A Modern Day Romeo and Juliet
by Egglette
Summary: Title says most of it, except no one dies. AU, Pairings BBRae, probably RobStar and possibly KFJinx. Gar Logan always grew up knowing he should stay away from his father's enemies daughter, Rachel Roth. But one night at a party changes it all.
1. The Party

**Aragh, I'm sorryyyyyy. I've got like...six stories going now, or something. But I reallllyyy can't help it. I luuuurve this story so much. **

**Summary: Modern day Romeo and Juliet story, minus the tragic death ending. BBxRae, probably RobxStar and KFxJinx. Cy...I'll think about it.**

* * *

I really should just turn my head away, right now. It could be so easy, just to direct my gaze to someone else…like Victor's talk of the latest football scores, or Richard's everlasting rambling on some girl at school he'd seen…

But no, I can't bear to look away. She's beautiful, with porcelain skin and dark, almost violet, hair and amethyst eyes. Sitting there with that bored look on her face, eyes rolling as her friend chatted on. Her friend was not unattractive either, a tall redhead with bright green eyes, but she wasn't the one I couldn't stop staring at.

I'd seen her around school before, maybe once or twice, but she'd never appealed to me this much before. The light was hitting her face at just the right angle, her arms drawn in her lap and foot tucked under her ankle in a proper fashion.

But she is off limits.

You see, my name is Garfield Logan; I'm in my senior year in high school, and son of one of the nicest men you'll meet in any lifetime. Unless you're Trigon Roth, that is. If you're Trigon Roth, my father is an insect on the windshield waiting to be squished.

My father is a scientist, actually, my mother is one too, but in a different field, and is currently working on something that has to do with saving the world, ending world hunger, all that kind of hippie stuff. Trigon Roth, on the other hand, is the rudest, cruelest, and possibly the meanest man on the face of the planet who doesn't give a damn about anyone else in the world, unless they're someone he can make a profit off of.

My father, Mark Logan, has been fighting Trigon since before I can remember. It started out with animal testing way back in the eighties, and the fights haven't stopped since.

And that girl, sitting across the room, the one I can't stop staring at, is his daughter.

Rachel Roth is the kind of person you'd see me staying far, far away from, even without our family differences. She likes black, poetry, and dark eyeliner. She's quiet, reclusive, and has maybe one or two friends in the school. I, on the other hand, wear mostly green to match my eyes, can't stand to read, I guess I'm popular; I have the attention span of a monkey, and probably the common sense of one.

I'm what you'd call the comedian. I tell jokes; I like to make people laugh. I've had my share of girlfriends, none of which have turned out so well, and I've got a great group of friends. Victor, the all-star football man on campus, Richard, the studious and serious karate master, and Wally, a fun-loving kid whose mouth talks about as fast as he runs. We have that in common, I guess. Well, not the running thing. I'm a soccer player; not a track star.

Where was I? Oh, right, friends.

If you've ever been to my school, JHS, which stands for Jump High School, you'd probably be amazed about how diverse we are. For every type of clique, we have it. For every type of club, we have it. For every type of student, we have them.

Not only that, we have a student population of probably six hundred kids per grade, half of which are female. And out of those three hundred female students, I had to be staring at her.

I don't want to sound cocky, but I could have probably any girl I wanted. Anyone of my friends could, really. We're what keeps this school in sports championships, what determines how cool you are, and probably what college you'll get into.

But no, I have to have my eye on her.

I don't really get this attraction I'm feeling. I mean, we're halfway into my senior year, my last year of high school, I don't have the greatest grades but ones enough to get into Stanford, which by the way, is the school I'm going to, and I just got out of a relationship with a long term girlfriend, Tara. We've been kind of rocky for the past months, since last summer, but we've only just broke it off.

Don't get me wrong, Tara's a great girl. She's pretty, spunky, happy, the kind of girl you'd see me with. But she kept secrets from me, and that's something I can't stand. Did I get off subject again? What did I say, attention span is zilch.

As I was saying, I'm going to Stanford in a few months and a pretty set future for me. And just all of a sudden, Rachel Roth is the object of my affection. Well, I wouldn't say that much, but I'm looking at my watch now, and I've been leaning against the wall, pretending to listen to Vic and Rich, but really just watching her, for about forty-five minutes now. Do I sound like a stalker or what?

Shit, she just caught me looking at her.

---

"He was very handsome, did I add?" Kori asked mostly to herself than anyone, sighing dreamily.

I'm fighting the urge to roll my eyes again, for perhaps the twentieth time, and I've got to say it's a tough urge to fight.

For the past hour or so, Kori has been talking nonstop about a boy she saw in school. I'm surprised she only now noticed him; she's been here for almost a month already. He's the kind of boy who's hard to miss.

I'd gathered after the first ten minutes that she was talking about Richard Grayson. I can't say I blame her for having a crush on him; a lot of girls do. If you like the mysterious, cool, I'm-so-awesome-I'll-wear-sunglasses-in-class type, that is.

He and all his friends are the object of most of the female student body's affection.

They aren't the all-brawn-no-brain football jocks that rank pretty high on the popularity scale, no; they have to be the worst kind of popular. They have to be the nice, compassionate kind of popular. You know, the kind of kids who are so nice and cool about everything you just want to hate them, but you can't bring yourself to it?

There's Victor Stone; the lovable teddy bear with a big-brother type disposition. I've witnessed him be friendly-rude to his friends, but that's the meanest I've ever seen him. If he has his demons, he hides them well. Richard Grayson of course, adoptive son of the reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne, and somewhat of a hot-head, smart, deductive, and as I'd heard several cheerleaders say: drop dead gorgeous. I suppose that goes to show how shallow our school is.

Then there's Wally West, a slim boy with bright orange hair and a fast mouth and fast legs. Somewhat cocky and playful, that boy just refuses to grow up at times. Speaking of refusing to grow up, that brings me to Gar Logan.

He's not exceedingly hunky like Richard, but to say he's ugly would be way off. He's got sort of boyish looks, with a somewhat scrawny figure, tan-olive skin, sandy blond hair, and the greenest of green eyes you'll ever see. I swear, look too long in them and you'll think you'll be seeing a forest. He was always on the shorter side, but he'd had a growth spurt in the past few years and was finally at a normal height. This meant, of course, that he was taller than me.

I've had my times where I've found myself staring at the back of his head in class or watching him laugh with his friends across the cafeteria, but I knew better than to speak at him. My father is a corporate, which means I've had a pretty comfortable lifestyle, me and my mother.

But he's also distant, with the fake-loving attitude that's made me the cold girl I am today. I know he's killed people before; anyone who got in his way. He and Gar Logan's father have been at it for years, when it started with a campaign against one of my father's companies that was animal testing. He's considered "getting rid of" that ant on the picnic basket, as he'd said so kindly, but he knew all blame would be shifted to him, and that might unearth some of the other "problems" he'd "taken care of".

Needless to say, staying away from Garfield Logan was a lesson I learned growing up. I can feel him watching me, those evergreen eyes gazing over in our direction. My face is bright red, I'm sure. Although now that I think about it, he's probably looking at Kori; most boys do. I don't blame them; she's tall, pretty, sweet, basic cheerleader material. I'm just lucky she hasn't ditched me for the popular crowd.

I'm somewhat of a loner in school, often labeled Goth or Emo. I want to sock them hard in the face for labeling me that, because I'm neither. But I've kept that anger bottled up, for I've learned emotions tend to only get in the way. But Kori hasn't left me yet, not since I was assigned to show her around school almost a month ago.

I think I wanted to strangle her within the first day I met her. Not only was she the vision of female perfection, but she was from some European country and spoke in exact grammar and with an accent. Not to mention, she was so sweet it was almost sickening.

But she grew on me, I suppose. I'm still waiting for Kathryn Moth to come up to us one day and, twirling her hair and chewing that pink gum she always has in her mouth, suggesting Kori try out for cheerleading.

As I was saying, back on the subject of Gar, I felt someone nudge me in the rib, bringing me back into reality. It was Kori, playfully bumping me with her arm.

"Rachel, I think there is someone looking at you."

Slowly, I turn my eyes to see Gar indeed looking straight at me. We lock eye contact for maybe three seconds, three wonderful seconds, and then he quickly looks away, face beet red.

I turn back to Kori as though it hadn't happened. She is smiling in that way that says: Don't-try-to-deny-it-because-I-saw-it-too.

But out of the corner of my eye, I see him approaching me. Oh my god, I think my heart just stopped beating.

Is that normal for someone who has no feelings for another person, one who happens to be walking right over as the song is switching into a slow song?

---

I have no clue what I'm doing.

This is one of those times where you aren't thinking. Like my old buddy Mr. T would say, "Shoot first, think later." That sort of thing. I mean, this is a party. A party that plays music. That usually means people are supposed to dance. So, it's all in good fun if I ask a girl I'm supposed to hate to dance, to a slow song no less?

But I really can't help myself. It's like I'm drawn to her, like I've…I don't know how to explain it. But I know if I don't, I'll be one of those old men sitting on his porch in his rocking chair, smoking his pipe, muttering to himself what would happen if he had done something different.

Ugh, I'm a nerd.

Moment of truth, I'm standing right in front of her. Her friend is giggling and doing her best to keep quiet, but it's pretty obvious she isn't doing such a good job.

"Hey, Rachel," I say. Could I be any lamer?

She looks up, "Hi…Gar."

I knew this was a mistake. Well, no turning back now. "Want to dance?"

She looks like she's about to choke. It's a good thing she didn't have anything in her mouth right now, or I'd be chatting away with the paramedics in a few seconds.

"Uhh…I guess." 'I guess'…I think that says enough for it.

I take her hand, leading her to the dance floor. I can see the guys' reactions in my mind. Vic falls over in shock, Rich stares on, wide eyed, and Wally freezes whatever he's doing, which probably is flirting with whatever female he's currently is conversing with.

Had it been anyone else, I probably would've done the same, though. I mean, I may be the King of Spontaneous-land, ruler of all things spur-of-the-moment throughout the impulsive kingdom, but this was way off Gar-radar.

What _am_ I doing? Have I finally lost my mental capacity?

But we've started dancing. God, she's beautiful. She's blushing as I slip my hand onto her waist…wow, this is awkward. I can hear the song playing in the background…Run, by Snow Patrol.

I had to ask on the long song, didn't I?

---

_Light up, light up  
As if you have a choice  
Even if you cannot hear my voice  
I'll be right beside you dear_

---

My face is as red as a tomato, I'm guessing. I'm a little surprised at how tall he is, compared to me. I can't look into those eyes for too long, less I want to look like a lovesick puppy, caught in his gaze.

When Kori had convinced me to go this party, I, never in my wildest dreams, had ever thought I'd be dancing, let alone with _him_, of all people.

I can't explain his appeal to me; I've never felt so drawn to anyone like this before. Especially not him, someone who I've never even had a conversation with before out of a forced class debate.

They're playing Run, by Snow Patrol. Thank god it's a long song. I just want to stay here in his arms forever; it's so hard not to bury my head into his chest and just want to melt away with him.

Is this normal? Tell me, is it?

What would my father do, if he saw me like this? With the son of the man he detests more than anything in the world? He'd go ballistic, that's what. He wants me to take over his company one day, and as his sole heir, I'll get it whether or not I want it. What would Gar say to that? I know he's like his father; protector of things living, strict vegan, I've even seen him at some protests of my father's company.

Why am I even thinking this? We'll never speak again after this dance, anyway.

---

_Slower slower  
We don't have time for that  
All I want is to find an easier way  
To get out of our little heads_

---

I'm surprised, to say the least. She's so tiny, so petite, I feel almost like a giant standing next to her. I suppress a laugh, thinking of how she would look next to Vic.

I'm starting to be happy with their pick of songs; I don't want to let her go. Not ever.

Ha, if Dad could hear me now. Wanting to never let go of the daughter of the man he hates more than nuclear bombs? That's kind of funny, in a sick and twisted way.

It's amusing, because we're so different; me and Rachel. She's cynical and I'm lively, she's sarcastic and I'm happy-go-lucky. We're polar opposites, and yet…

I don't want to say it without sounding like a freak. These feelings I'm feeling are more than I've ever felt for any one of my past girlfriends, for Tara, for anyone. Am I going crazy?

She relaxes, slipping into my arms. I tighten my grip around her, holding tight.

---

_Have heart my dear  
We're bound to be afraid  
Even if it's just for a few days  
Making up for all this mess_

---

The song is ending.

I gave in to those tedious feelings, resting my head against his warm chest. I'm listening to his heartbeat. Words cannot express it, but how soothing it is.

I fear for my sanity.

Even if, come Monday, we never utter a word to each other again, I won't forget this. Even if I'm old and married happily or alone and ruling the corporate world with an iron fist, this is something that will be embedded with me forever.

---

_Light up, light up  
As if you have a choice  
Even if you cannot hear my voice  
I'll be right beside you dear_

---

The song is over, I think. We're still dancing.

Reluctantly, I let go, slowly stepping away. She looks up, her face many tints of red (though I'm sure mine is the same) and whispers,

"Thank you."

That was it. Just a thank you, no goodbye. She returns to her seat, her friend instantly bombarding her with questions. I watch for a few moments, then too head back over to my friends.

They're all standing open mouthed by the punch bowl. Ugh, I'm in for a world of hell.

---

"Who was he? Was he a good dancer? Was it fun?"

He was Garfield Logan. He was an excellent dancer. Fun couldn't begin to explain it.

But I don't say any of this to Kori. Right now I'm focusing on rubbing my temples and drowning out Kori's voice.

Wow and double wow. I steal a glance at him, being punched in the arm playfully by his friends as he looks like he's explaining something. He catches my gaze, and smiles back at me. I find myself smiling back…I never smile.

This is too strange, too strange. I watch them talk, eventually making their way towards the exit. Things will never be simple for me again; this much I can say right now.

School won't be the same, knowing he's there. College won't be the same, Yale, by the way, knowing he won't be going. Gar doesn't have the grades for Yale, I know. Besides, I heard him chatting with Wally in English last week on how he got into Stanford. Probably taking over my father's place as corporate won't be the same, knowing he'll probably be at every single protest that he can.

Monday is gonna be one hell of a day.

* * *

**ZEEE END OF CHAPTER ONE!**

**I muuuuussstttt know, did you like it?**

**I'm sorry about the alternating POV, but...I thought it worked better. If it was confusing, sorry. **

**Did I make it Romeo and Juliet enough? I think R&J opens up at a party scene, doesn't it? I've never actually read R&J, so I'll need to sometime soon. Heh...**

**Anyway, please do review! I will love you foreeevvverrrrr. Well, maybe not, but you get what I mean, eh?**

**I tried to use humor, too. I found the "I mean, I may be the King of Spontaneous-land, ruler of all things spur-of-the-moment throughout the impulsive kingdom, but this was way off Gar-radar." comment rather humorous. But then again, I'm lame like that.**


	2. Bookstore Meetings

**Wowee and double wowee. 28 reviews...I'm flattered. I'm glad you all like this as much as I do.**

**I only hope that I live up to everyone's like of chapter one...**

**I forgot the disclaimer last time so here it is: I don't own Romeo and Juliet or TT. But I do own Billy Shakespeare; FACE PWNAGE! Err...no. Shutting up.**

**And so, without further adieu, I give you chapter 2!**

* * *

Coming home went along smoothly. Vic dropped me off in front of my house just in time to not miss curfew, and I slipped in silently. I know they probably won't find out, but I felt undeniably guilty about what happened not even…an hour ago.

It had started out like an average party. A regular girl trying to get my attention last week during lunch had flagged me down and handed me an invitation to her party. I saw her passing them out to almost everyone she saw, and she had tried to do that, 'oh, sure, you can come, if you'd like' last minute thing to try and sound cool.

Now I'm not one to rag on people, but I don't like it when people don't act as they are just for the sake of social standing.

I had almost gotten up the stairs, taking off my shoes before I entered the house, when I saw a light flick on in the kitchen, down the hall. My mom, looking bedraggled and tired staggered down the corridor, coffee in hand. She was up late working on a skin disease cure, I assume, as she had been doing for the past two weeks.

"Gar…?" She managed to stutter out, half drugged with sleep.

Why was I feeling so guilty? It wasn't like anything had happened.

_Sure, keep telling yourself that._

Well, we hadn't kissed…

I check my watch; it was already Sunday. But it was still ten minutes before curfew, so I couldn't be yelled at.

"Err," is all I can say. And I thought Rachel made me feel lame.

"Go to bed," she murmurs, returning to the kitchen, and most likely to her work.

"Yes ma'am." If I was getting away that easy, I was taking advantage of it. Scuttling up the stairs without another word, I slipped off my shirt and decided to just sleep in my boxers.

Although, I've been staring at that damn ceiling for about an hour. Did you know there are thirty-nine stick-on constellation star things on my ceiling from the summer I went nuts with those things? I was nine, I think.

As sleep slowly comes, my mind drifts off with the thoughts of Rachel.

I wonder what she's doing right now…

---

Ow, ow, ow.

My head hurts and I can't fall asleep. I keep thinking back to sneaking a sleeping pill, but they're ten hour pills and I'll never wake up if I do.

I'd gotten in late, thanks to a series of truly awful events following the party. After Gar and his friends had left, Kori had chatted on, now mostly directed towards my dance with Gar…

But as I was saying, after we left, it turns out Kori had parked about fourteen blocks away from the person's house (she'd dropped me off at the front) and we had to walk the whole fourteen blocks in heels along with Kori's constant talking about my dance…

And then once we'd got to the car, Kori's keys had been locked inside (I swear, that girl has possibly the shortest attention span in the history of attention spans. How does someone "forget" that they'd locked their keys inside their car for three hours?) So we had to walk another few blocks to the nearest payphone to call the car agency, and then wait twenty minutes for someone from the company come and unlock the car.

Then, Kori didn't have any money to pay the man with, so I had to lend her one hundred and fifty dollars. Honestly, all that money for doing something so simple? Oh, how they take advantage of the client. Apparently, the 'customer is always right' phrase went out of style, because Kori had argued for another twenty minutes with the man about the price. In the end, we ended up just paying him the right amount and she drove me home.

I'm surprised we didn't have another problem, like running out of gas or the car breaking down. But that would've even been better than the torture whoever's up there put me through. I don't know what it was about Kori tonight, but she was seriously getting on my last nerve.

I practically leaped out of the car and dashed into the house, barely muttering a goodbye.

Of course, who had been waiting for me behind door number one? Surprise to you, it was my father!

I think he'd yelled for maybe an hour and a half about curfew, about living up to the public eye. I usually brush away his little outbreaks, but I felt exceedingly guilty during this one and just hid in the corner as he yelled.

Eventually he calmed, or the next closest thing, and stormed off into his study. That was my signal to head to my room.

Somehow, I think this probably happened when I was just shouting things to shut Kori up, she'd asked me to go to the mall with her tomorrow. Honestly, shouldn't she know by now that I don't do malls?

---

Bored; that about sums up every thought going through my mind, right now. Well, not every thought, but every thought I'm not trying to block out.

I know Wally tells me that spending time with you parents is social suicide, but I rather like hanging out with my dad. Well, most of the time. That would be when he isn't trying to act cool and use slang.

We had agreed to meet in the bookstore at eleven, but it's already ten forty-five. Why bookstores? I hate bookstores. So many…books. Books to read.

I shudder, browsing up and down the comic book aisle. I run my fingers over the spines of the graphic novels and two centimeter comic books, pausing as they stop at a gap. Something moves in the next aisle over…I glance up. The poetry aisle…

I lean down to look through the gap, and a small smile creeps over my lips.

---

I guess I feel somewhat guilty for ditching Kori, saying I needed to use the bathroom, but I needed some breathing room. It was either the incessant rambling on her five-second talk with Richard that went along the lines of "Do you need help with your locker?" and then she'd replied, "Oh, yes please O handsome one!" Something like that.

I sneak a glance at the clock hanging above the Starbucks coffee stand; ten forty-five. I can probably sneak another five minutes of poetry without it sounding too suspicious. As I walk past a gap in the books, out of the corner of my eye, I see something move.

My heart begins to flutter. I don't know if I am being obsessive, or if it was the fact that someone vaguely familiar whispered my name half a second later, "…Rachel. Psst, Rachel."

I walk back to the gap backwards, peering through it. No one's there. Was someone playing a joke on me?

Then the whispering of my name sounds again, though now practically dripping with mischief. I check the gap again, this time there's a grinning face looking back at me.

I stumble back, blinking. When I turn my head again, he's gone.

---

I've got her good now. I should be ignoring her, even if my dad wasn't coming to meet me in less than thirty minutes. But I can't.

I don't understand…it's like last night at the dance. Shoot first, think later.

I don't even think my brain is functioning properly right now, because I see my feet rounding the corner to her aisle. She's there, looking fearful and confused at the same time. Wow…I had nearly forgotten how beautiful she is…

What am I doing! Stop Gar, stop!

---

What is he doing? Stop Gar, stop! If anyone sees you approaching me like that, they could get the wrong idea and news spreads fast…

But he isn't stopping. Instead, he stops next to me casually greeting with a, "Hello."

My heart is doing that thing again where it stops beating…Ack, I still need blood circulation!

But somehow, I manage a reply, "Hi Gar…"

He grins at me, tucking a strand of lose hair out of my face. His hand pauses over my face and his cheeks flush pink. He brings his hand down quickly and slides to the floor, leaning against the bookstand.

I mimic him and slid down next to him, hugging my legs with my arms. And then, we talk.

We talk about school, about the social chart, about why we were here, pretty much everything. He tries to tell me a joke; it isn't funny. But I laugh because he tried to make me laugh.

We're facing each other, now. Is this wrong? I mean, what if someone sees us?

But wow, he's gorgeous. I mean, he was always good-looking, but never gorgeous before. With tan-olive skin and that sexy-I-just-got-out-of-bed hair, not to mention those eyes, no wonder he's so popular. So what is he doing talking to me?

---

I look down to notice my hand wandering towards her own. Why is it that I'm so attracted to her? That I just want to spend every moment with her?

I told her a joke. She laughed; score one for Gar!

Out of the corner of my eye, so it doesn't look like I'm not looking at her, I see the clock. 11:03.

Shit, dad should be here any second now.

We talked about nothing really, but at least we talked. I love the sound of her voice. It's somewhat monotone and cold, but if she's making eye contact it's just lovely. I'm turning into a stalker, aren't I?

But before my hand reaches hers, I hear someone call my name, "Gar!"

I turn quickly to see my father standing with a confused look on his face. I turn back to Rachel, and all I see is fear in her eyes. Thinking quickly, I stand up and point at her accusingly.

"And furthermore, you need to have a chat with your father about those chemicals in your products! Not to mention all those rainforests he's cut down!"

I take a deep breath, winking at her before I walk off and join my father. The confusion has left his face and he's nodding approvingly. He slaps me on the back as we walk off towards the food court.

"You sure told her, eh son?" He grins at me as we order our food.

"Uh…yeah, Dad. I sure did."

---

When he first yelled at me, I thought he'd snapped and was going clinically insane and the next time I saw him would be on my television, watching the high speed car race with the men with the white coats chasing him, needles ready.

But then he had winked and I knew he was just acting. He's actually a rather good actor. He should go out for the spring play…I think they're doing a Shakespeare show. Probably Romeo and Juliet; they do it at least once a year.

I've been holding the same poetry book in my hand for about half an hour, and the girl at the counter is giving me a look that is saying: We-aren't-a-library-so-you'd-better-buy-it-if-you-ever-want-to-shop-here-again.

She looks about my age; I think I've seen her at school before. Dyed pink hair and pale, almost gray, skin, she's kind of hard to miss.

I plop the book down on the check out counter, pulling out a credit card. As she rings it up, she cocks an eyebrow at me. "Was that Gar Logan you were talking to?" I look past me, just to see if she was talking to anyone else. She wasn't; obviously. From her spot at the counter, she had the perfect view of Gar and I at our aisle.

"Uh…yeah it was. He wanted my opinion on something."

She smirks knowingly, running my card through a slot, "Must've been a pretty controversial opinion for you to talk on for thirty minutes."

My face hardens, staring into her eyes. That's usually when people turn away; I've perfected my 'fuck off' stare. But she just grins wider, handing me back the poetry book in a plastic bag.

I glance at her name tag for a moment. It read Jen. "Thank you…Jen," I say, with a sort of snooty attitude.

She shrugs, leaning in across the counter. "If you ask me, you've got a good chance with the guy. I hear he and Tara just broke up and he needs a shoulder to cry on. Although, you'll need to get past a few other girls. But if you ask me, you've got the advantage. Looked pretty cozy over there."

I glare at her before walking off. From behind me, I hear, "See you at school tomorrow, Rachel."

How did she know my name?

Once I leave the store, I break into a sprint. Knowing Kori, she's probably still at the food court…

---

"So, son, I got us tickets to the soccer game this afternoon. What do you say, you and me? We haven't done any male bonding in a while, and it could do your mother some good to have us out of the house."

I nod, grinning as I check over the tickets. I could use something to get Rachel off my mind. I rock on my heels as we wait in line, glancing around just to see if she happened to be around…

I spot her friend sitting by herself. Seconds later, I see Rachel run up to her and look like she was apologizing over and over again. I would've kept looking, if it weren't for the girl at the cash register. She smiled at me; I think she went to my school. "What can I get for you, today?"

I zoned out as my father placed our orders, vegetarian no doubt. My father knows what I like.

Right now, Rachel is the only thing on my mind. She slides into the seat; her back is now to me. But at least I can see her.

_No! No, no, no!_

Bad Gar, bad! I'm mentally slapping myself right now. Stalker Gar is nonexistent! I feel like one of those guys who are obsessed with girls and leave little love notes or write messages in flames on their yards. I won't admit it, but within the past two days, Rachel Roth has become my affection.

I entered puberty years ago! I'm supposed to be past this!

---

Kori was forgiving; she seemed to be smiling at something. It was in my direction, but it was past me. I turn slowly and see Gar with his hands dug into his pockets chatting with his father as they walked towards the other end of the food court. It wasn't a lovesick smile that I usually see when watching him or one of his friends, but a smirking grin.

"What?" I ask.

Kori just looks away, trying to keep the smile off her face. "Oh, nothing friend. I need to ask…were you with Garfield Logan when you left?"

I nearly choked on the soda I had in front of me. "What? No, Kori I went into the bookstore after my bathroom break. People like Gar Logan don't go into bookshops."

She just sipped her own drink, the smile never leaving, "I see."

* * *

**Ohhh, Kori knows something!**

**I hope chapter 2 was what you wanted...I liked the idea. I want to thank RoseMage (Katie) and Rainbow-Jess (Jess) for helping me with some ideas. Please, do review!**

**I really hope you liked it!**

**Next chapter: School.**


	3. Beginning the Play

**I'm ina state of shock...I'm already at fifty reviews! Esquee!**

**Anyways, disclaimer:**

**I, obviously don't own Teen Titans or Romeo and Juliet. I mean, if I owned TT, do you think I'd let it be canceled? Oh, yes, I just LOVE being bombarded with angry fan letters every day. And if I owned Romeo and Juliet...I don't think I should go there. Shakespeare owns R&J, and he's dead. So no one owns them, right? Or does jolly ol' England reserve rights? Argh, I don't know! I've given myself a headache!**

**Righty-o, then. Chapter 3!**

* * *

I don't know where I am, but I'm stumbling. My surroundings are dark and fuzzy and all around me is nothingness. The skies are dreary and starless, the ground rocky and cracked. Then I hear someone call my name,

"Garfield…"

I squint at a pulsing light coming closer and closer. As the silhouette's foot touches the ground with every step, the terrain around it sprouts grasses and flowers. Strands of hair billowing out behind the figure, the sky turns a pale blue. Trees grow in the distance, scattered with birds and butterflies fluttering around it.

I blink and the person is standing next to me, hand in hand. I finally get a good look at the person, and I'm shocked at what I see.

It's Rachel, in a plain white summer dress, hair longer than its usual shoulder-length and hanging at her waist. She has no make up on, but her face has a natural beauty that makes her seem like the eye of perfection.

She's facing me now, entwining her fingers in my own. She holds them up and tilts her head, as though studying them. Slowly, she stands on her toes and moves closer to me. Her lips are only centimeters away from my own when she pulls back and looks at me like my mother does when I've done something wrong. Her hands are on her hips defiantly and head is held high. With a shrill voice sounding strangely like my mother, she screams,

"Garfield Mark Logan, get your lazy ass out of bed!"

My eyes fly open and I clasp my hand at my throat, for my breathing is unsteady. I hear the voice again,

"I don't want to have to ask you twice!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" I shout back, pulling a fresh shirt over my bare chest. Changing into clean boxers, I pull a pair of shorts over them and shake the loose hair from my face. I never brush my hair, anyway.

With a groggy sigh, I slide down the banister and meet my dad as he is on his way out the door. He turns around, briefcase in one hand and a half eaten apple in the other, and gestures towards me with the hand holding the apple. He says something along the lines of 'Mom, be mad, banister, don't'. I snort; yeah right.

"Bye Dad," I say, heading towards the kitchen.

My mom is sitting at the kitchen counter, hunched over a pot of coffee and a pile of papers. She starts to yell before she sees me, "Garfield…" She trails off, seeing me. Her voice softens and she smiles sleepily. "…I don't think I can take you to sshnooolll…."

"Shnool?" I repeat. I turn around to see my mother now asleep on the table, drool already leaking from her mouth.

Sighing playfully, I grab the car keys and head for the garage. I had a car, once, but my parents said they won't buy me another until I entered college. Lets just say the first car wasn't made compact.

---

I roll around in the sheets, swatting away at the person who is attempting to wake me up. "Go…away…" I mumble, nestling in with my pillow.

"Miss Rachel, please," the woman is pleading now. "You need to get up or you'll be late."

The maid sighs, walking away. I smile, still half asleep. _Good…_

Something dropped to the floor with a thud. "Oops, Miss Rachel, how clumsy of me," She says. My ear perks. What is she talking about?

"I accidentally knocked over your diary while cleaning your room. Look, it's already opened up the latest entry! Dear Diary, Today was confusing. It had started as a normal mall trip, but I after I had ditched Kori…"

My eyes shoot open and I jump out of bed, scrambling for the book she held in her hands. I had written things about Gar in there! My father would be furious should he find out!

I glare at her and she simply smiles and pats me on the head. "That wasn't funny, Rosie."

"Ah, but I got you up, didn't I?" Picking up the vacuum cleaner, she leaves me alone in my room. To say it's large would be an understatement. With a father as rich as mine, money was never an object. I frown; when was the last time I decorated? Age ten?

Pink ceilings, white walls with castles painted on and doll houses scattered around the room? Ugh, I was in serious need of a Home Makeover.

I head to my closet and chose my clothes; a black tank top and blue jeans, completed with converse. I do a quick brush of my hair and tie it up loosely as I run down the stairs. School was starting in less than thirty minutes, and I needed time to eat and get there. Fortunately, breakfast was already being served.

Both parents were eating; my mother raised her cup at me in acknowledgement and my father just grunted from behind his paper.

Pierre winks at me as he hands me my meal, eggs, sausage, toast and a side of bacon. I don't smile back, though.

The minute the food is in my stomach, I'm already at the garage. Fortunately, Percy is already waiting at the car, door open. I don't say a word and slide in quietly. I just now notice which car was arranged for me today; good, at least it wasn't the stretch limo. I hate it when I arrive in that one.

---

Before I pull out my keys from the ignition, I steal a glance at the clock. Phew, I had at least fifteen minutes before homeroom. I might be safe after all. As I make my way out of the parking spot, pulling my bag over my shoulders, I eye Vic coming out of his own SUV.

He grins and waves and we meet at the building entrance. "Where'd you go yesterday? I called you like four times."

"Well sor-ry, _mom_. I went to the mall and—I mean, I went to the soccer game with my dad."

Vic grinned; he was one of the few friends I had who understood how cool my dad was. Vic and I had been friends since the sandbox. He's my best friend, but we always have our stupid little arguments. In kindergarten, it was over who got to use the green crayon, as opposed to the red one. In elementary school, it was who got to say the pledge of allegiance. In middle school, it was over who took Leslie Norton to the seventh grade dance. In high school, we kind of ran out of things to argue about. But than at our sophomore picnic, we found our muse again.

Vic, I, and some other kids had been put in charge of the barbeque. To sum it up, I'll just say that Vic is the biggest meat lover you'll ever see. And then there was me, the vegan, with my veggie dogs and burgers. Needless to say, World War III would've been upon us had it not been for the intervene of Rich.

Anywho, way back over here in reality, someone stepping out of a plain black limo (non-stretch) caught my attention. It at first was only a leg, covered in pale blue denim, and a black converse shoe, but the owner of the leg and foot soon followed.

Rachel…she looked even prettier than yesterday. Loose strands of hair cupping her heart shaped face, her black tank top hugging her curves wonderfully, I'm mesmerized.

I see her wave goodbye to the driver and head toward the main doors. She catches my eyes on her for a moment and looks back at me. Her face immediately flushes pink and she looks away, walking faster.

Suddenly, I see a large dark hand in front of me. It's waving as though it wants my attention. I turn to see Vic looking at me like I've lost my mind, which I probably have. He nudges me in the back to push me forward and I'm snapped from my trance.

"You shouldn't be looking at her like that, man," He says disapprovingly, shaking his head. Vic wasn't someone who judged other people, but Vic practically lived at my house when things were faulty at home and agreed with my father on one thing: Trigon Roth was nothing but trouble.

But I can't help myself; my eyes are drawn to her. Suddenly, I feel self-conscious about myself and bring my gaze down. I grin at Vic as we head towards homeroom.

---

I glance at the clock; almost two o'clock. Five minutes and drama starts, and after that, we're born free. I don't like drama particularly because I'm not very emotional, which is key in acting, but anything is better than math. My teacher, Mr. Lynch, talks in perhaps the most boring voice known to man and just rants on and on, ignoring any raised hands.

Gar…is in my drama class. I remember seeing him this morning as I got out of my car. He was with Victor Stone, but he'd put whatever conversation they were having on hold as he looked at me. I saw him as we were pulling up; with tinted windows, he couldn't see me watching him.

He's even more gorgeous than yesterday. His hair, again, wasn't brushed, and flopped around at his shoulders. His shirt was on the tighter side, giving anyone who was looking a better look at his muscles, and although he wore shorts that were on the baggier side, they still looked nice with his converse. I looked to my own feet; we have the same shoe tastes.

I quickly looked down as I got out, but I saw him looking at me. Just once glance, I had thought. And the instant I looked up, my face turned the color of roses. I had quickened my pace after that; I didn't want him to see me red-faced.

Whoa, whoa. Rewind, pause, and freeze that frame. Since when did I care what Gar thought of me?

But before another part of me can answer that, the bell rings and I'm pulled away from all thoughts of before school. Gathering my things, I make my way towards the drama room. I see him walking along the way, chatting away with Wally as his hand reached for the door. He doesn't see me, thankfully, and I follow in a few moments after. I take a place in the back of the room, a large auditorium, while he and his friend go straight to the front.

Ms. Kaywood, our drama teacher, immediately began passing out small pamphlets. She waved at me, calling me forward, "Rachel, I don't want you sitting in the back. Come up and sit next to Jennifer."

The same girl from the bookstore swerves in her seat to wink, almost menacingly, and waves at me. Reluctantly, I take a seat next to her. She leans in, "They're doing Romeo and Juliet. You should try out for Juliet."

I give her a quizzical look; if she knew anything about me, she'd know that I don't do this sort of thing. But Ms. Kaywood has other things in mind. "I will be pairing you up in twos. I want you to rehearse a scene from the play and I will grade you on your performance. For all of those looking for leading roles in the spring play, this is your opportunity to shine! Your grades will determine which part you get, so do try and take this seriously.

"Rachel…why don't you work with Wally? Jen, you…" I zone out at that moment; I had been so sure she'd put me with Gar. Or rather, I'd been hoping. I mean, that way we could spend time together academically without it sounding weird, right?

Now that I think about it, though, I'm the one who's sounding weird.

Wally grins and saunters over to me, plopping down in the seat over. "Hi, I'm Wally; Wally West."

I ignore his hand, which he'd aimed at me to shake. "Alright, well, what scene do you want to do?"

He waggles his eyebrows. Great, the cocky pervert is my partner. "Anything that isn't intimate."

"Well, what about those lights…over…yonder…broken window thing?"

I blink; I didn't think anyone could be so oblivious to Shakespeare, "You mean what light through yonder window breaks?"

"Uh…sure."

---

I sigh, yawning as my partner excitedly flipped through the pamphlet. "We could always do Act—"

"I don't want anything intimate, alright?" She looks disappointed, but then scans another page.

"I was going to say Act 2, Scene 2."

I've never actually read Romeo and Juliet before, so I have no idea what that is. "It's the balcony scene," she explains.

"Alright," I say. Shouldn't be too hard, I think.

Wrong. They use so many words in this! I mean, can't they just go out and say "Yo, Juliet! I think you're way hot and screw what our parents think, I love you, let's go elope!" or just call him on his phone and ask where his instead of the overly dramatic "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?" It'd be so much easier just to go "Hey, Romeo. You in da hood?"

Ack, my brain hurts!

All they say is thou, thee, thy, and everything ends in –eth! I thought Shakespeare spoke English!

I glance over to Rachel. I want to strangle Wally right now…looks like they're doing the same scene. I hadn't expected them to be so good together, but they really are. Wally's gotten into character perfectly, and Rachel…wow. It's like she was born to play Juliet.

Ms. Kaywood is taking notes on my performance, and by the looks she's giving me, it looks like I'm not meant to play Romeo. I mean, it's not like she's giving me the look teachers usually give me when I've fallen asleep in class, or ask a question completely off subject, but it's just an average look compared to the one she's giving Wally and Rachel.

We stop ten minutes before class is over. "Very good, kids. I loved some of your performances, and I already have a Romeo and Juliet in mind. I'll have your parts assigned tomorrow."

---

I was surprised, to say the least. Wally was fantastic, nailing everything dead on. I had been not only surprised at his performance, but at my own as well. I got really into character. I don't know…maybe it was such that I feel I can relate to Juliet.

And now here I am, waiting outside the school building for Percy to pick me up. I stay after school for an hour or so because I'm not always ready to go home right away. I had finished up my homework early, so I figured I'd wait outside until he got here. The parking lot is mostly empty, save for a light green Cadillac convertible. The owner of the car was hunched over the engines, obviously trying to repair the car. From what I could see at this distance, the person had sandy blond hair and was wearing a green shirt and shorts…Gar!

I know I shouldn't, but I'm walking over to him. I don't think he sees me as I approach; he's so engrossed in his work. Softly, but enough so that he can hear me, I call, "Gar?"

He looks up, obviously surprised and wheels around to face me. I'm almost taken away at what I see. His face and shirt are smudged with black marks and his mouth was hung open in a smiling but shocked way. He grins and rubs the back of his neck, "Hey, Rach."

He called me Rach. He has a nickname for me. I gesture at the car with my elbow. "Car trouble?"

I see pink underneath the black smears. "Eh, heh, yeah…Car won't start."

"I can call a tow truck for you, if you want," I offer. What the hell? My father, his father too, would go ballistic if either found out.

He brightened, but the look of shock still remained on his gorgeous face. Those eyes…wow. "You'd do that, for me?"

I might as well melt into a puddle, he looks so happy.

---

Yes! And it's a fumble from Gar, but look, it's Rachel with the save! Teenagers win! And the crowd goes wild!

I want to grab her into a hug and smother her with kisses; if my dad found out that I'd stalled his Cadillac. Well, maybe not smother her in kisses, but a hug sounds about adequate. Without a care in the world, I grab her and pull her into me. She stiffens; I think I've scared her.

Realizing my mistake, I quickly let go and back away, once again my hand scratching the back of my neck. Something I do when I'm nervous.

"Um…so yeah, thanks."

She blushes and pulls out a RAZR cell phone. Flipping it open, I watch as she dials numbers. She talks for a few minutes, nodding and agreeing. "They'll be here in about fifteen minutes."

I was surprised; that fast? Well, I guess when you're the daughter of a big shot corporate, special treatment comes easy. "I can't thank you enough. I wish Vic hadn't left so soon for football practice; he's great at this sort of thing."

"Do…you want me to wait with you?" She asks hesitantly. I stare at her for a moment, taking in her presence.

"I would love that."

* * *

**Was there a secret meaning behind that? HMMMMM?**

**Haha, I don't know. Ok, so I'm going to answer a few questions that might get asked.**

**1) This is not a Rachel/Wally.**

**2) RobStar is yet to come. KFJinx is probably on it's way, anyway. **

**3) I have my reasons for not always putting Gar with Rachel. **

**I promise to you that I have a reason for anything that sounds weird. Well, most of everything. If I'm just a bad author and everything ends up completely screwed up...**

**Um...I'm...sorry?**

**I love my idea for their first kiss. Or probably their first kiss. Problem: Doesn't come for a while. Probably. Unless I change around my plot. It's killing me, I just want to scream it to you. I want to write it ahead of time...I'm so lame. -fall over-**

**Anyway, just review!**

**Ok, but before I go, I can so see Gar/BB saying that stuff about Shakespeare. I mean, AU or not, this is still Beast Boy. **


	4. Ice Skating and Frozen Butts

**Longest chapter yet! I'm so lame, I've already written the first kiss scene, even though it isn't for a few chapters. **

**Disclaimer: ...You're not still on this crap, are you? I don't really get what the disclaimer is supposed to be for. Why FF insists on it, I don't understand. OBVIOUSLY, we don't own anything here. Why the hell would we waste our time on this site if we actually owned it? Common sense, people. So you know what, I'm not even going to say it. And if my story gets deleted because of it, I've lost all hope.**

**I'm a little worried about this chapter...I think it might be a little rushed. -Que the big dramatic sigh-**

**Uh oh. Oh well. Too late now! **

**But before I say anything else, let me take a minute to stare blankly at the review counter. 59, 58, 57...**

* * *

"And the role for Juliet will be played by Rachel Roth…" Ms. Kaywood calls out the parts, adjusting the glasses that are resting on the bridge of her nose. "Romeo, will be played by…" She pauses, squinting at the words, "Wally West. The role of Mertucio will be played by Garfield Logan. Capulet will be played by…" 

I glare at the empty seat Wally usually sat in. It was empty; Wally had gone home early.

I was supposed to play Mertucio. Mertucio was the guy who told Romeo to stop acting like such a wimp about his ex-girlfriend and get over himself; he wasn't romantically connected to Juliet at all.

Not that he'd been hoping for that or anything…

"…and the Nurse to Juliet will be played by Jennifer Hexington…"

After she had finished reading off the parts, I see her scanning the audience. "Is Mr. West here today?"

Murmurs escaped the class, chattering about Wally's leave. I shrug my shoulders and raise a hand, "He went home sick, Ms. Kaywood."

She frowns but nods. "I was afraid of that. Ahh, Gar, why don't you sub in for Wally today?"

I had no objection.

---

And I thought Wally had been good at Romeo. Damn, Gar!

He's just supposed to be running lines with me right now since the first thing to do is know you lines before you start anything else. And although the point is just to get our lines learned, he's taking it extremely seriously. The most serious I've ever seen him…ever.

It didn't go unnoticed by Ms. Kaywood, either. She raises her eyebrow, taking notes. After we've gotten maybe ten minutes into rehearsing, she calls him over. I perk my ears to listen better.

"…So, should Wally not be available during our performance, you may take his place. How's that?"

I see him grin, striding back over to our seats. I cock my eyebrow at him, "What was that about?"

He just smiles, picking up the pamphlet casually and says, "A second chance."

---

The bell rings and I look up just in time to see Rachel heading for the door. I run to catch up with her, tapping the left side of her shoulder. As her head darts left, I jump to her right. "Hey Rach," I grin.

"My name is Rach-EL," Rachel says with a faint smile before she keeps walking. How much does this girl want me to run for her to get her attention?

"What are you doing after school today?" I ask casually. She stops walking and gives me a strange look, probably thinking I'm crazy. Which probably isn't that far off, with the way I've been feeling lately.

"I'm going home, doing homework, and then followed by a shower and bed."

"I've got a better idea," I say. Since when do I have better ideas? What am I doing? "You let me show you some fun."

Her eyes widen, in both shock and disgust, and she starts walking again. What did I do? Did I say something? Show some fun…damn it, Gar!

"Wait, Rachel! No, no, no, not like that!"

I've got her attention again; I might still have a chance. "Why?"

I double take, "What?"

"Why are you asking me? There are tons of girls who would kill for this," she looks somewhat hurt.

…Crap.

"Well…uh…" I rub the back of my neck as I struggle to choose my words. "Honestly?"

---

I nod; I want the truth. Why did he want to spend time with me? I'm nothing special. And on top of all that, we shouldn't even be talking. Oh Gar, the headaches you give me.

"Because…honestly, I'm not sure. It's like…I'm drawn to you. I just want to spend all my time with you, no matter what people will think."

I blink at him…was he serious? Or was this some practical joke he was forced into? But I look at his face; he looks completely serious. I don't know what look I was giving him, but it must've not been nice, because he looked to his feet in shame.

"Oh…" Is all I can muster, "In that case, what did you have in mind?"

He grins at me so widely, it's almost mischievous.

---

"…Percy? Will you tell my father I'm going out with a friend? You will? Thanks," I hear her say from the passenger seat, phone to her ear.

She turns to me, somewhat nervously and avoids eye contact, "What did you have in mind?"

I lean back in my seat; I'd borrowed the Cadillac again. "I actually don't know. I hadn't planned this until about fifteen minutes ago," I pause, remembering the ad I saw in the paper this morning. "I've got it!

She frowns, "What?"

"You'll see." Without saying another word, I slide my keys into the ignition and start the engines. I see Vic watching me as we pull away; with a convertible, we don't exactly have secrecy. He's frowning.

Nothing I can do about it now, though.

---

We're driving down town. I'm sticking my head over the side of the door as I try to get where we're going.

"Gar, where are we going?" I demand for perhaps the fifth time.

"If you'd turn in your seat and face forward, maybe you'd see," he laughs.

I do so and nearly want to hit Gar over the backside of his head. "Ice skating? Gar, I can't skate!"

"So I'll teach you," he says, pulling to a stop in front of the newly built indoor ice skating rink.

"Gar, come on! No, I can't!" I plead, but he only comes around to the other side and drags me out of the car.

I wander off to a bench and watch people struggle to get their skates on, and on the ice, try to stay up. There's one couple who have the center of the ice, practicing. "What size are you?" He asks.

"Six," I reply, sighing. I hear him chuckling as though he finds it humorous. How is my shoe size funny? Ok, so I have small feet, but…

"And this is yours, milady." He hands me a pair of smaller white skates.

"Actually, Gar, I'm not feeling so well. Maybe you should just go on your own."

He laughs and grabs my foot. I'm shocked at first, but when he starts to slide the boot on, I relax. He smiles as he leans over my foot to lace them up. Once he's done my shoes, he moves onto his own.

---

I grab her hand, leading her onto the ice. She pulls back, and eventually I just pick her up bridal style and carry her to the edge of the ice. The expression on her face is priceless; a true Kodak moment.

"Come on Rachel, don't you trust me?"

"Sure, I trust you like I trust someone with Parkinsons Disease with a rusty chain saw," she says drolly, rolling her eyes at me.

"Oh, har-dee-har-har. Fine, if you won't skate with me, I'll just show off for all the other females in the room," I step onto the ice swiftly, immediately moving into skating backwards. I pass her once as I do my rounds, hands behind my back nonchalantly.

On the second lap, I stop at her entrance. "You see, I'm an expert. I won't let you fall."

She looks hesitant, but slowly offers me her hand.

---

This was a total mistake, I'm telling you know. The minute one foot hits the ice, instead of the other foot coming along; it's my bottom that takes its place. I let out a small scream as I hit the ice, rubbing my butt to soothe the pain.

Gar just laughs, leaning down to help me up. For a moment, I'm caught in his eyes. I warned myself about them; can't stare at them for too long if you enjoy living outside of a mental institution.

Then he blinks and I'm set free, steadying myself on the wall. "Come here," He says. I look at him; he has his arms spread out to me sort of like he wants a hug, but his face is completely serious.

"What?"

"Just come here," He laughs now, pulling me into him. My back is facing his chest as he slowly pushes me forward step by step. I tremble, but he's there to save me. He'll catch me if I fall.

Hmm, now that sounds somewhat poetic.

He wraps his arms around my stomach to keep me steady as we skate; I think we're on our third lap like this. I relax, leaning back somewhat so my head rests against his body. Oh, he's been working out.

Somewhat sleepily, I close my eyes and hum along to the music they're playing; You and I, by Jason Mraz.

_Was it you who spoke the words that things would happen but not to me  
Oh things are gonna happen naturally  
Oh taking your advice I'm looking on the bright side  
And balancing the whole thing  
But often times those words get tangled up in lines  
And the bright lights turn to night  
Until the dawn it brings  
Another day to sing about the magic that was you and me_

Suddenly, my eyes fly open as a cry sounds not far from us. We stop skating for a moment long enough to see a girl on her own skates, arms waving wildly as she came closer and closer.

"Whoa!"

There are two other girls behind her laughing their head off. One is slapping her knee and one is hunched over to resist rolling around on the ice. We look back to the girl who lost control and she's only inches away…I'm gonna be feeling this in the morning.

---

We were so close to having a moment…

Damn it! I'm already up, giving Rachel my hand first. Then I offer the girl who knocked me over help up, laughing to hide my disappointment.

She stumbles up, knees wobbling as she rests on my arm. "I'm so, so sorry," she pleads, looking up at me with big eyes to add to the effect. "I lost control. _They_ were supposed to be helping to steady me," she said, turning to glare at the two laughing girls.

Eventually, they cease laughter long enough to skate over. The shorter one, a golden-blond with wavy hair pulled the girl to the middle of her and the other girl. "Sorry about that. We thought she might've been ready to skate on her own…guess not."

The other girl ran her eyes over us as though studying. With a flawless British accent, she gestured towards me. "Say, you're Gar Logan, aren't you?"

I freeze; no one could find out about this. "…Yes…" My voice squeaks, somewhat panicked. "…But I need you not to tell anyone, got it? I was never here." I wave my hands in front of my face.

She puts a finger to her lips before skating off, "Mums the word."

As they skate off, I see the two other girls exchange glances and motion towards the girl they were currently supporting. With an evil smile, they let go and watched mercilessly as the third girl went flying again.

We laugh and I'm only snapped out of it by from Rachel grabbing my arm for balance. "Kids these days," I say, smiling at her. She stares at me, then slips again, falling to the ice with a thud.

---

I am such an idiot. I fell! Again! I just…I don't know. I got lost in those eyes again. I'm never this clumsy! I don't understand what's happening to me. It's like, when I'm around him, I can't say the right thing or do anything right.

But he's by my side again, hoisting me up by slipping his arm at my waist. I think I might fall over again. But he's got me stable, grinning at me with those pearly whites with the sharper canines. "You up for another go?"

No. No, I'm not. I want to go back to the bench and watch him show off for me. I want to go home and put my feet up with a nice long bubble bath and rest my frozen butt. But I don't say this. Instead, I say, "Of course."

Shut up! Just stop talking, Rachel. After all, if you're quiet he'll think you don't like him and he'll go away, just like all the others. Except…I don't want him to go away. I don't want him to think I don't like him. Wait…but I don't like him…right?

"Okay," He instructs, handing his arm out to me. "Balance yourself on my arm like…good! Now, just take small baby steps forward, inching ahead."

I do as he says, and surprisingly, my ass hasn't hit the floor yet. "You see, you're a natural."

"Yeah, and I've got the bruises to prove it," I counter sarcastically, rubbing my leg. As I do so, I lose balance. Because I was holding onto Gar's arm so tightly, I bring him down with me. We both fall, luckily not hitting anyone because the floor has pretty much cleared out. When I open my eyes, Gar is right on top of me. His face flushes and he scrambles up, offering me a hand, all the while avoiding eye contact.

"Uh…yeah," is all he says, looking to his feet. Now my butt and feet are killing me. I don't care how much I want to hold onto his arm, I'm sitting down.

"I'm gonna sit down, Gar," I smile faintly, making my way over the exit of the ice. Amazingly, all limbs are not hitting the floor.

He nods and takes off across the ice, pulling a pair of headphones out of his jean pocket. He slips them in and kicks up the speed, often changing direction or whether he skates front or backwards. And I don't think he's trying to show off either, because his eyes are closed and his head is facing forward.

I've lost track of how long I've been watching him. I want to close my eyes and fall asleep on the bench right here, I'm so tired. I think it's already around nine o'clock. But I need to make sure not to fall…

---

I stop skating long enough to see Rachel fall down on the bench, eyes closed and asleep.

I chuckle and glance at my watch…Shit, how long have we been here? I'm the only one on the ice now and besides Rachel, the only other people here are the guy in room where you rent skates, flipping through his magazine and the ancient janitor who was probably around when the wheel was invented, moving at a pace slower than my dead grandmother would.

As I make my way off the ice, I see the man in the room finally look up from his magazine and roll his eyes at me. He hands me back my and Rachel's shoes, which we had exchanged for the skates so they could be sure we wouldn't steal them.

Once I return with Rachel's skates, which I slipped off her feet silently (she hadn't stirred), the man runs his eyes over me, then to Rachel. "She's pretty, your girl."

"Oh, she's not my—" I start, flipping through my wallet for the right amount.

As he takes the money, I swear I see his eyes laughing. "Sure, kid."

Rachel's shoes tucked under my arm, I scoop her up and carry her to the car. She doesn't wake.

---

I open my eyes with music blaring in my ears. The wind is ruffling my hair and my seat is leaned back. I peer over at Gar, tapping his fingers on the wheel as he bobs his head up and down with the rhythm of the music.

_Can't explain all the feelings that you're making me feel  
My heart's in overdrive and you're behind the steering wheel_

"…Gar?" I whisper, sitting upright in my seat. He grins at me, all the while still swaying his head to the music.

"What the hell are you listening to?" This is far off from my Evanescence and classical.

He laughs; I would do if I'd been in his position. Groggily lain back in my seat and talking as though I'm half-drunk, I'm a sight to see.

"'I believe in a thing called love' by The Darkness."

"They're weird," I mumble, nestling back into my seat.

_I wanna kiss you every minute, every hour, every day  
You got me in a spin but everythin' is A.OK!_

"But too right," he whispers, a soft sigh following. I pretend not to hear that.

I think my heart just stopped beating again. How many times does it need to do that before I'm hospitalized?

---

There's something wrong with me, I'm telling you. I hate love songs. Even if they aren't the mushy-gooey-lovey-dovey sappy girly crap the music industry tries to pass off as music, music relating to love isn't exactly my pastime. Well, I've hated love songs for the past few weeks, that is.

Probably starting after Tara and I broke up. It wasn't one or the other, who broke up with the other, we just kind of agreed on it. But I still miss what we had. I mean, she was my best friend for a long time. (Next to Vic, anyway)

We'd tried the 'just friends' thing, but I don't know what kind of shit the idiot who made that up was on. It just isn't possible. Have you ever been in a room with someone you've made out with out before and supposed to act like friends?

Think back to all those times when you're in elementary school and right now your brain is on overload with the thought of cooties, and you've just been paired up with someone of the opposite sex, so they're crawling with them. Yeah, this was about ten times as worse.

But in the past three or so days, I can't stop listening to this kind of thing. After all those times I've thought I've lost all sanity, this pretty much wins hands down. I only had this fix on this kind of music while I thought I was in love with Tara.

I snort; that's obviously not it. I've known the girl for three days, and I really shouldn't even be talking to her. Ugh, what is wrong with me?

---

I've tried to fall asleep again, but as I currently have control over my brain waves (Although I'm not so sure anymore), I think it's fairly obvious that sleep is being too stubborn and won't come.

It's probably for the better, anyway. We're nearing the suburban part of the city soon, anyway. And it might be hard to wake me up, and if he's stopped outside my house and…I'd rather not think about it.

Even though it's not even near the kind of music I listen to, I rather like this song.

_I believe in a thing called love  
Just listen to the rhythm of my heart  
There's a chance we could make it now  
We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down  
I believe in a thing called love  
Ooh!_

I didn't think I believed in a thing called love four days ago. Now, I'm not so sure.

No, no, no! Bad Rachel! May thy lie in the pits of hell that I was so forth conceived in and crawled out from to render pain and torture on the surface world!

We don't think this, not at all. You're too much out of character, this isn't who you are. You're cold, you're distant, you're unfeeling…Oh, jolly day. I'm like my father.

Then why do I feel so outgoing? So happy, and so in bliss? If I weren't pretending to be asleep right now, I'd be hitting my head against the dashboard. Please, o mighty one, smite me now before the unthinkable happens and I turn into the giddy school girl who stalks the popular boy in hopes of a valentine or even just a second glance.

I hear the car stop. He shakes me lightly. I can't help but get goose bumps as his hand touches my arm. Egads, it's too late! I've already submitted to my inner Kori. Just pull the trigger now.

"Rachel, you need to get out now. I can't stay outside your house any much longer," He says, forcefully but gently at the same time. Is that possible? I suppose with Gar, we could wake up in a world filled with magical pastries and talking animals, ruled by the all powerful tofu source from space.

He doesn't need to tell me twice. I scramble out of the car and dash towards the main gate. As I type in the pass code, he winks at me before driving off. Enough with the blushing, woman! We get it; you are part human after all and are capable of blushing. Now stop it!

I don't think he saw it, and I'm sure I'm only imaging things, but I could've sworn I saw a window curtain fill out, a hand removing itself from the side.

* * *

**Longest chapter yet. I'm uber lame with the cameo of me, Katie, and Jess. Although it was fun to write, since me an' Katie torture Jess so.-and we all cackle-**

**Again, I think it might be a little rushed. But they say we do strange things when we're in love...**

**Ummmmm. Yeah. I don't know why I'm so frequent with updates, probably because I like to procrastinate with my real life and I like to write and type mega ultra fast. -shrugs-**

**And I think FF has a bug. Jess is yelling at me. She says my story is ruining FF's updater; it's too popular. Nay I say, nay!**

**And Gar is not Romeo for a reason! I'm sorry I forgot RobStar again...um. I'll just run away quickly now.**


	5. More Dreams for Gar

**Sorry, this was more of a wait than my other chapters.**

**Again, I'm gaping aimlessly at my review counter. 101 reviews! My ego has been thoroughly stroked. :)**

**Disclaimer: It's 11:30 at night, do NOT make me do this now. **

**But for all my Californian readers out there like myself, or people familiar with the territory, I mention three Californian places I spend a lot my time. 3**

* * *

I feel horrible. My head is throbbing, my nose runny, and my stomach feels like it's been thrown into a mixing bowl and whipped around by an eggbeater. And then flattened out by a steamroller and flushed down the toilet, ultimately making me want to hurl at the sight of anything brown or chunky.

My mom was still asleep in bed, having only gone to sleep at 3 A.M last night, when my father came barging in to wake me up. My alarm was beeping incessantly, but my hearing was so awful, I'd slept through it.

"Gar, wake up," He's nudging me. I can hear him faintly, as though he's miles away. He instantly recoils from me, upon feeling my body heat. "Damn it," I hear him curse.

He leaves, coming back with my exhausted-looking mother. "This has better be good," she mumbles.

"Just feel him."

Still only halfway asleep, I feel a cool hand touch my forehead. My hand draws up and holds it down, absorbing in the coldness of her hand. "Oh well this is just great, isn't it? I've got this paper due in a week and he's sick. And here I thought that my life had already reached hell."

She sounds more awake now. "Mark, go call the school and tell him he won't be coming to school today, while I go make him some soup."

They both leave my room silently, closing the door behind them.

---

Kori slides her tray down across from mine, immediately stuffing the foreign substance they're currently trying to pass off as edible food (the fact that someone chipped their tooth on the Jello proves otherwise). I don't know why, but Kori loves the stuff.

I'm looking at her, but I'm not paying attention. All I can think about is Gar, and how I haven't seen him all day. I have only two classes with him, English and Drama, and he wasn't here during English. And I didn't see him this morning, so that probably means he's sick.

"Rachel, I do not believe you are listening to me." The sound of Kori's voice wakes me up from my Gar-daydream.

"…No, I was," I reply quickly, pushing around the…food (I think) with my fork.

She looked eager, "And?"

"And what?"

Her face falls. "You were not listening, were you?"

"Refresh my memory." I hope I haven't hurt her feelings; she's the kind of girl who wears her heart on her sleeve.

"I forgive you though; I understand why your mind would be elsewhere."

I take a sip of my juice box (A/N: Hey, I like juice boxes!) causally, whereas my mind is panicking. What did she know? "Oh?"

"Garfield Logan is a good a reason as any."

You know those moments when you're laughing so hard your drink starts to come out your nose? Well, I'm sure it doesn't need to be said, but let's just say that I would be needing napkins to wipe up something soon.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

She rolled her eyes, once again biting into the…meatloaf. "I may be naïve to America's culture, but stupid I'm not. And you were doing the…dating last night, I am correct?"

My eyes bug out, this time the drink exiting through my mouth. "No, Kori! Just…no! Gar and I…we aren't…we couldn't…"

Through the dark hair dangling in my face, I think I see her smirking. "I saw you leave with him yesterday."

I want to hit my head on the table as hard as I can.

So I do. Wow, that hurt more than I was expecting.

"Rachel! Do not hurt yourself!" Kori exclaims, frantically catching my head in her hands.

"Hey, Kori," A voice says from behind me. I turn to see Rich Grayson and Vic Stone. Rich is smiling; Vic…has the Emo stare of 'I hate myself. I hate the world. I'm gonna go write something depressing now.'

"Richard! Please, do sit!" He smiles at her, sliding down next to me. Vic grunts, but takes a seat next to Kori. The cafeteria goes silent for a second, and then explodes with whispers and murmurs. I can hear the rumors forming as we speak.

Rich looks at me behind his dark sunglasses. "I'm sorry; I don't know your name. I'm Rich."

"She's Rachel Roth, daughter of the corporate mogul Trigon Roth," Vic mumbles, taking a large bite of a hamburger.

I blink at him, "Is this the part I thank you for saving me the clichéd introductions?"

He shrugs, "You could. I could care less, personally."

Rich, shocked at his friend's tone, slaps Vic's arm. "Vic, what's into you?"

He doesn't say anything, just glares at me for a moment, then giving his undivided attention to counting how many seeds or on his bun. Or that's how it looked from my point of view, that is.

Ignoring Vic and somewhat blocking me out, Rich turns to Kori. His face heats up somewhat, fumbling with his fingers. "So what are you doing for break?" He asks, referring the week long ski break we have coming up.

"I am going skiing with my family, and I was asking Rachel if she would like to accompany me, although she had not been listening because—"

"We don't need to go there, Kori," I say suddenly, interrupting her. I glare at her, and she gets the message, quickly shutting her mouth.

Rich's face turns a bright red. What is with all the blushing? Valentines was over a month ago. "You are? Because the guys and I are too! Just us," He says, adding the last part under his breath. "Going skiing, that is."

"Snowboarding, actually," Vic interrupted, his voice still gruff.

"Right, snowboarding," Rich nodded to confirm.

Kori squealed in that way that makes me want to smile and strangle her at the same time. "That is most wonderful! What slope are you going to?"

I don't listen, just now picking up something Rich had said. 'Because the guys and I are too'. The guys…that included Gar, didn't it?

---

"Gar, I'm going out for some ibuprofen, call me if you need anything!" My mom calls. I hear the door close a minute later.

My head hurts. My throat hurts. My nose is stuffy and it sounds like I've got some freakish other-worldly accent. So what do I do?

I call Wally, of course. I know he's the one who got me sick, and I, honestly, don't want to think about Rachel right now.

I punch the numbers in the phone by my bedside table by heart; I have a good memory when it comes to remembering numbers. Definitely one of my weirder talents. I can't remember other things like not to ask if the teacher had gained a little weight, when not to tell a joke, when not to bring up tofu, when not to become freaky Gar and have a flirt fest with Rachel.

It's ringing… "Wally?"

The reply is muffled, with the sound of snuffling in the background. "Who da hell is dis?" I laugh in my head at how awful he sounds; worse than me.

"Gar," I reply, voice still groggy.

"…What do you want?"

"To tell you how much I hate you."

---

"Then, perhaps we could arrange a day where we come down and visit you? I would much rather ski at Squaw rather than Northstar," Kori agrees. "Rachel, how would you feel if we visited them? Assuming you accompany me, that is."

I was definitely not letting this go. A week away from my parents _and_ with Gar? It was like finding a hundred dollar bill on the street, and when you go into a store to spend it, it turns out you're the hundredth costumer there or something and end up winning a year's supply of clothes. And then coming home to realize you'd forgotten your birthday and being showered in gifts. Oh yes, I'd be coming.

"That'd be fine by me," I say casually. Rich looks at his watch and nudges Vic.

"Sorry, we've got to be going. But I'll see you around Kori?" He turns to me, smiling (though not as much as he was at Kori), "Rachel?"

We both nod, though Kori's was much more enthusiastic. I turn to her, once they're out of earshot. "How do you know Rich Grayson?"

"He is in my class of mathematics! I was having difficulties and he agreed to tutor me. Was that not the most chivalrous thing?" She sighs dreamily, cupping her chin in her two palms.

"Yeah, congratulations. I think he really likes you."

Her eyes go wide, her face mimicking the color of her hair. "Oh, I wouldn't say such things…"

I laugh softly. "Right, whatever you say."

"I have not seen much of you lately, perhaps you would like to come over to my house this afternoon and we may braid each other's hair and talk of your non-date with Garfield. He is…a very warm boy, is he not?"

My cheeks went as warm as 'he was'. But nevertheless, I hadn't been able to shatter the possibly of that hand I might've seen, and didn't want to go home at all.

Although, Kori's family was just short of dysfunctional. She didn't like to talk about her parents; all I knew was that she lived with her Uncle…someone or another, her sister, who liked to go by Amanda instead of her real name, and younger brother Ryan. But although her uncle was about the size of two of my fathers (and my father was a big man), he was incredibly sweet. Once you got past the wrestling-like body and face, that is.

Her sister was nice, but resentful of her sister's luck with almost everything and hung out with a meaner, more popular crowd. I've seen her in the flocks of Kathryn Moth and her little mini-Kathryn zits. You know, the kind of girls who only say 'Yeah', whether to agree with something nice or rude.

"_So just back off, okay? Loser."_

_Que the, "Yeah."_

"_That dress is so cute on you!"_

_You guessed it, "Yeah!"_

Her brother was kind of shy, but a sweet kid. Cute, too. And no, I don't mean that in the predator kind of way.

---

After a while, we ran out of things to talk about. But than I had inspiration, "Did you want to be Robeo?" (A/N: Ha ha, he has a cold.)

"Sure. Why wouldn't I?"

I roll over in my bed, the phone still pressed against my face. "I dunno…all those lines to rehearse. No offense dude, but you have a case of ADD worse dan mine."

I hear a pause on the other end of the line before a, "Whatever."

"What about Rachel? You like her being Juliet?"

Another break. "Looks wise or acting wise?"

"Boff." (A/N: Both. xDD)

"She's pretty, if you like the Gofic beauty thing. She's good at Juliet, too. So I guess so."

He pauses, as though deciding something. "But honestly?"

I stop staring at my ceiling, processing the information he just gave me. "Uh huh," I reply, only half there.

"Da chick that plays her nurse is pretty hot."

I relax, knowing he didn't like Rachel or anything. "Dink we'll be better by Friday?"

"I hope so. The snow at Squaw is supposed to be just about right dis time of year."

"I'm going even if I'm sick. Let me be sick during school, but there's no way I'm missing dis."

"Dink dere'll be any girls at the lodge?"

I bring my hand halfway to my forehead, prepared to slap it. I bring it back down; too lazy and tired. I catch my hand before it falls back beside me; did it just wink at me? Oh God, I'm hallucinating. "Unless it's normal to just have your hand wink at you, suddenly sprouting a face, I think my meds are kicking in."

I hear a laugh on the other end. "Nice. Well, at least it's only your hand. Before my shit kicked in, I swear I saw a frolicking pony in my soup."

"Romeo, Romeo, O Romeo, thy meds are beginning their affect, and I fear sleep is upon us. I do hopeth thee has the strength to stand to be without thy presence. Try not to feel faint, my dear Romeo." I laugh before hanging up. Of course, with my cold, it sounded a little different.

Hey, look, my lamp is dancing the salsa…

---

"Uncle Galfore?" Kori calls, peeking her head through the door. I spot her sister heading around the hallway corner. Seeing her sister, Amanda stops and walks backward to greet us.

"Hey Rachel…Kori," She said, a colder tone directed towards her sister. She turns back to me, "So, you going to come to the slopes with us next week? I've wanted to test out some new snowboarding moves since last year."

Kori frowned, looking away. I didn't really understand, I thought her sister was pretty cool. She knew all about yoga and its mediation poses, and wrote excellent poetry. But Kori was my friend, and I came here to spend time with her, not Amanda. "Yeah, I'll come. My father would probably love to get the angsty teenager out of the house for a week."

She laughs, smiling at me. "Alright, well, I'll see you two around."

As soon as she's out of earshot, Kori leads me up to her room. Not my choice of décor, with mostly purple and pink, but anything is better from my castles and frilly pink pillows room. What kind of drugs was I influenced by at age ten?

"I am sorry for my sister. She likes to do the pigging."

"You mean hogging?"

Kori sighs, fiddling with her hair. "Yes, that is what I mean! She is only two years older than me, but she already speaks your language with its proper slang, even though she came a year later, where I…"

Amanda had been held back a year because she took off a year before coming to America, explaining why a nineteen year old was still in high school.

"…I just do not understand how everything she does is wonderful."

"I actually think she's kind of jealous of you, actually."

She blinks up at me, rarely using that 'How hard exactly did your parents drop you on the head?' look.

"That's just the way I see it. But anyway, let's move on."

She brightens. "Oh yes, let us! I wish to speak of—"

A knock at the door interrupts, soon followed by a handsome boy of thirteen or fourteen opening the door. He smiles at me bashfully, turning to Kori. "…Kori, Rachel, dinner will be finished shortly," He says, with the same naïve voice as Kori. Except it's adorable on him, whereas on Kori, it sometimes just gets on my nerves.

"Thank you, Ryan. We will join you momentarily," Kori grins at her brother. He nods his head one last time before closing the door.

I say something extremely out of character for me, but than again, I've been out of character for a few days now, "Your brother is really cute, Kori."

She just beamed, grabbing my hand and leading me down the stairs. Dear god, I hoped her family didn't have the same food tastes as she did.

---

Now, I've had some weird dreams in my time, some consisting of creepy British men obsessed with their culture, (Probably based after Austin Powers…Mike Myers gives me the creeps) Vic turning into a robot and eating vending machines, jumping into the television to beat Conrad Sanders, fatter than usual, and carrying around some creepy remote and attacking me with my favorite television characters, and being kidnapped by some big creepy thingy who kept telling me I was his pet, but this was by far the weirdest of them all.

It was sort of like the dream I had two days ago, except…it was just different. It started out with me and Rachel, sitting by a lake as the water calmly lapped at out bare toes, just talking about nothing and everything. Suddenly, the sky starts to go black. The ground between us cracks and the lake shrivels up, and suddenly we're on two separate cliffs.

I can barely see her through all the darkness, but slowly her figure comes into view. A shadowed man of eight feet stands behind her, hand on her shoulder. She's crying, rocking herself slightly, and moaning out, "Help me, Gar, help…"

I try to step forward, but the ground crumbles if I try to move at all. The silhouette behind her grabs her by the arm, shoving her off the cliff. She screams as she falls, the last words leaving her lips being, "Help me!"

I turn around to see my father, my mother, and Vic looking towards me with trivial sympathy, but mostly hurt. "Gar, how could you? What are you doing?"

"I don't know," I reply desperately, and suddenly Rachel is by my side again, lacing her fingers in my own.

She looks at me and my parents and Vic's expression's change. Vic and my mother nod, somewhat acceptingly, but my father just turns cold and steps away. "Don't ever leave me, Gar," She whispers, resting her head on my chest.

I stroke her hair and try to calm her, but the words don't come. Instead, all I can do is kiss her forehead and continue to rock her.

Finally, I muster, "I won't leave you, I won't leave."

And then, I woke up. And my lamp wasn't dancing, my hand wasn't winking, and I was in my own room. Vic is leaning against my door, a smug grin planted on his brown face.

"You won't leave me, eh? How soothing," he laughs, sauntering to my bed.

"What?"

"You were talking in your sleep. You kept muttering 'I won't leave you, I won't leave'. And then you stroked your pillow and kissed it. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you'll come out to the authorities and admit to them that you did indeed escape from a psychiatric ward."

I feel the heat rush to my face. My lips form in an 'O' and I chuckle to myself.

"I figured, since I know how much you love school, I'd bring you your homework. Think you'll be okay by Friday?"

I snort, swatting my hand at him nonchalantly. "'Course. Dude, this is me we're talking about. I'll probably better just in time for the trip. You get a snowboard rented?"

"Man, I built my own. Way better than that crap they sell at the ski shop."

"You built it?" I ask, disbelieving. Vic was good with tools, but I couldn't believe he'd make one his own.

"Well, my dad helped a bit." I was turned away, but I could hear him blushing.

"Anyway, if you're okay by Thursday, your dad says we can drive over to Marin and get your snowboarding gear out of storage."

I throw a pillow at him. "Shut up Vic, and go away. Gar need sleep, go now."

He laughs and I don't think the door was closed before I was asleep again.

---

Kori's uncle dropped me off around eight, which was an hour ago. I just came out of the shower, to find Rosie patting down the towels for me.

"Hello Rosie," I greet. Rosie had been my nurse as I was growing up, and was more than just hired help to our family. To me, anyway.

But there's no cheery smile on her face this time.

"Rachel, we need to talk about something."

* * *

**I'm not going to say anything except this chapter is hella boring, but I needed something leading up to chapter six. We get a little...erm, physicial. -nudge-**

**What does Rosie know? Review, and I'll post sooner!**


	6. Sweaty Boys Without Shirts & Soccer

**A lot of reviewers guessed it; Rosie was the hand. **

**For those of you who have read Romeo and Juliet, Nurse to Juliet was a character who at first encouraged Juliet's relationship with Romeo, but after some princely dude that her father wanted her to marry came into the picture, she changed her mind. That's who Rosie is. I brushed up on my characters for this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Northstar or Teen Titans. If I owned Northstar...wait, is that legal? For people who don't know what Northstar is, it's a ski mountain in California. Squaw is also a ski resort/mountain in California. Awesome places for skiing. -going there for Easter break-**

**Erm. So...yes.**

**Oh, and some people have been asking me to put POV's in front of each time I switch. I would, but it makes it look kind of weird. Just know whenever there's a **---**, it means I've switched POV's. **

* * *

I had been right. Of course I had been right; I'm Gar. Gar is never wrong. 

My fever broke late last night, Wally's yesterday morning. My mom didn't want me going to school, but I'd proved to be fine for Friday soccer practice. I missed Wednesday practice, and I wasn't about to miss this one too.

I pulled on a gray shirt and shorts, lacing up my cleats and knocking on my shin guards to be sure they were in the right place.

It may be winter, but its winter in California. And winter in California, even northern California, is rarely cold. I mean, we have a lot of times where it's windy and rainy, but half of the time, it's sunny and perfect sports weather.

I called Rich; my mom was working again and my dad was still at work. My mom had actually gone to work for her work, so both cars were out. I needed a ride.

"Rich?"

A pause. "Gar? Aren't you supposed to be sick?"

"Just a little bug," I reply simply. "Have you left for soccer yet?"

Rich was pretty well rounded, being on a lot of the sports teams. But he wasn't captain like I am. For once, I, Garfield Logan, was better than Rich at something. It may not seem like a lot to some, but Rich is just completely wonderful at everything. If you're one of his friends though, it's hard not to live in his shadow. He's good at everything except for soccer, that is. He's an amazing goalie, but when it comes to anything on the field, he kind of stinks.

"Kinda, but I haven't passed your house yet. You want a ride?"

"Read my mind."

"I'm not far away; I'll see you in like five minutes. And I want you ready when I get there. I mean it, Gar."

I laugh, holding the phone away so he can't hear my snickering. I love to make Rich angry, since he's so easily pissed off or embarrassed if you know the right things to do and say. "I would never dream of such, o fair one."

"Good…because I need to ask you something about the ski trip. Err, I gotta go Gar. I'll see you in five."

What! No, Rich, come back! You can't leave me hanging like that? I need to know! Of course, he's already hung up. Typical Rich.

---

"Miss Rachel, you can't keep avoiding me!" Rosie shouts as I close the door. The minute she told me that we needed to talk, I dashed to my room and locked the door. Whatever she had to say, I didn't want to hear it.

I don't care if she told me my father really was an actual demon, hell bent on ending the human race (Which he kind of is, at the rate the company is progressing), I want to just clap my hands over my ears and act like I'm five.

She knocks.

I pull the pillow over my head.

She knocks again.

I'm scribbling away in my journal, trying to block the knocking out of my head.

She doesn't knock. Instead, I hear a sort of clicking noise and the door opens, Rosie holding up a master key.

She pulls the journal and pen out of my hands, setting them on my bedside table. She doesn't look angry or frustrated, just peaceful. "Rachel, I just want to talk about Tuesday night."

I wince; I had a feeling this was about. "Do your worst," I sigh, closing my eyes for impact of the yell.

"I'm not going to tell your father, Rachel."

I open my eyes. Did Rosie miss the memo? This is right about when the screaming kicks in.

"I see you like the boy; the chemistry is undeniable. I saw you the moment you pulled up, and thankfully I think it was only me who saw him. But dearie, you need to be careful. It could mean serious trouble if your father finds out."

Oh, thank you! Sweet, sweet Rosie!

I throw my arms around her, grabbing her in one of my rare hugs. I'm feeling like Kori again.

"I know you'll make the right decisions. Shall I pack your things for your trip with Kori?"

I nod, rubbing my temples as I attempt to fall asleep, even though it's only five o'clock. I can't wait to be out of this city and in the cool, unpolluted air of Northstar.

On second thought, a walk sounds even better. I get up, grabbing my things, and head for the park.

---

I was pacing around the living room, hands behind my back, when I heard Rich's car honking for me. I had to know! This was driving me crazy!

Rich is true to his name; he's rich. And no, I don't mean in the humorous way. Like seriously, he's loaded. His allowance is like hundred bucks a week or something, and he complains he doesn't get enough!

I throw my soccer bag into the back of his convertible Porsche, not bothering to open the door as I jump into the front seat. I instantly flick on my shades, mimicking Rich's this-is-my-car-so-feel-welcome-to-bask-in-my-ambiance feel. "You wanted to talk?"

Rich looks somewhat uncomfortable. Underneath those sunglasses that he only removes when necessary, like for soccer practice, I see his face blush crimson. "Uh…yeah. So you know Kori?"

I groan; how could I forget? Rich hadn't shut up about her since last Friday, feeling all good about himself that he'd jumped at the chance to tutor her. "I see where this is going…Yeah, Kori can come along. Don't you think she'll feel awkward with just guys, though?"

"No! Well, kind of. She and her friend wanted to come down to visit us for one night, since she, her friend, and her family are skiing at Northstar at the same time."

I freeze and the only thing moving on me is my hair, being ruffled by the wind as we drive. Rich sucks in his breath; I had been very male-bonding about this. "What was her friend's name?"

Instead of the yelling I'm sure he was expecting of me, to be all Judy Moody and pull a PMS on everyone, I almost laugh at the confusion on his face. "Err…It was that girl you danced with on Saturday. Well, one of them that is. I think the last one before we left. Why?"

"No reason. That's okay with me," I say casually, trying to keep from looking like a gender-confused boy who was jumping around and squealing. We pull up to our soccer field and run to the field in full sprint; we're late.

---

My phone rings. I look up from my book and glance over at the purse lying next to me on the bench and pull my cell phone out of it. "Hello?"

"Rachel!"

"Good to hear from you too, Kori."

"I am just calling to make sure you will be ready tomorrow morning for our departure to Northstar!"

"I'll be ready." In the background, I hear a bunch of cheering and yelling. Sometimes I love the park; it's so peaceful and calming. Unless, with times like these, there's some sort of sport practice going on.

"What is that noise, Rachel? Where are you?" She asks, obviously hearing the cheering in the background. I turn in my seat to see a bunch of shirtless boys bowing down to yet another shirtless boy as he stands with one leg triumphantly on a soccer ball.

Another group of boys, some wearing shirts and some not, walk away to an angry looking coach, whistle in his mouth as he signals for them to run more laps.

Now, I'm not the kind of girl who stares at shirtless boys, sweaty from whatever they're doing, but there's something familiar about the boy with the soccer ball. I squint at him, trying to distinguish more of his features. All I see is a huge mess of sandy blond hair, and a seriously ripped body. Oh my god.

I drop the phone. "Rachel? Rachel!" I hear Kori's yells from the phone on the ground.

The boy sees me, looking surprised, waves at his teammates and jogs over. Oh god, he's coming over. Look at his face, look at his face,I think to myself. But I can't tear my eyes away. I knew Gar was always scrawny and short for a good portion of his life, but this could _NOT_ be the same Gar. No way. If it was, I'd be calling to notify Hell of their dawning ice age.

His eyes twinkle, mouth half open as he grins at me. "Rachel?"

I don't respond; my eyes stay locked on his body. He notices, quickly laughing nervously.

"Rae? Yoo-hoo, earth to Rae?"

I finally snap from my trance, locking eyes with him. "Gar! What…are you doing here?"

"I have soccer practice. What are _you_ doing here?"

"I just kind of came here to think." I open my mouth to say something else, but a booming and masculine voice interrupts.

"Hey, Logan! Any day now, Grandma!" We both turn to see a coach standing with his arms spread out, waving Gar over.

He grins at me. I think I actually feel my brain dissolving. "I get off in about thirty minutes. Why don't you stick around and then we can hang out?"

I can only gape, nodding. He motions me over. "Alright, you can watch me kick some butt."

---

I had been so Rachel-free for the past hour and a half, imagine my surprise to see Rachel sitting their on the bench, looking straight at me.

I had won the scrimmage for my team again and they were showing their thanks by getting on their knees and naming me their savior. Oh yes, it felt good to king.

I directed Rachel over to a tree nearby before returning to practice. I know she'd been staring at my chest and torso (Wow, that sounds weird from a guy's point of view, eh?), and it made me a little nervous. For so long, I was always the short kid. You know, the gaunt kid who was scrawny and got beaten up easily. But then in my sophomore year, something happened to me.

I did something I will always regret, never forgetting it. I had started to grow rapidly, finally catching up to my friends, but I looked even more disfigured than before. I was scrawnier than ever, and it was killing me. So I had gone on a walk around the city to clear my head, and before I knew it, I was wandering around the slummy parts of the city.

Some guy had motioned me over, offering me something to clear my head. Normally, I would have never, but I wasn't thinking straight. I took the case, paying him fifty bucks, and swallowed a few pills down.

I immediately changed personality wise. I snapped at people, I grew uptight and ferocious, growling at whoever reached out to me and spending all free time working out. I started to grow muscles, finally filling out my figure. It wasn't like they were steroids or anything, because they didn't make me muscular, but it was like they unleashed something primordial about me.

It was something that Gar Logan had a lifetime of practice keeping hidden away. And something I never wanted anyone to see. My friends and family grew worried for me, and rumors quickly spread about me. My coaches thought I was taking steroids, even though I passed the drug tests. They were testing me on the wrong drugs, though.

I continued taking the pills, getting them from the man monthly, and one day my mom saw me slip one in with my orange juice. She caught me after following me to the exchange spot and busted me. She sent me through a stern talking to, and needless to say, I never tried anything like that again.

Ever since, though, I've been self conscious about my body. I've heard girls whisper about me as they watch me during P.E. or soccer practice, but that doesn't change it. And when Rachel was looking at me, I thought she might see me scrawny. She didn't look disappointed, though. Instead, she locked shocked.

Hmm, shock can be good.

This is now why I'm playing harder than ever, pretty much showing off for her. We scrimmage again, this time dividing our team in two. The coach waves us aside, giving us two captains and watches from the sideline. Of course, as regular team captain, I am one of the captains.

Ah, so he's picked Rich as the other captain. This should be fun; it's always a hoot to see that look on Rich's face after you score on him, for one seeing shock in his blue eyes.

I whisper a game plan, giving out positions. I give myself forward, where I play best. The coach blows the whistle and the game starts. We had kick off, and the ball is passed to me. I'm running, not even caring if Rachel is watching anymore. Dodge a defender, pass to my other forward...

The ball returns to me and I'm lined up for the shot. I take a moment to aim and then bring my foot down hard on the ball, sending it into a high corner of the net. My team, wearing green jerseys, goes wild as I run back to the half-field line, slapping back high fives as I do so.

And to think we aren't even two minutes into the game.

---

Wow.

I've heard rumors about how great Gar is at soccer, but I really mean it when I say it: wow.

He doesn't strike you, from first glance, as the type to take a sport seriously. But his team is already leading 4 nothing, three being scored by him. Rich, the other team's captain, is boiling. I see Gar laughing and slapping his knee as he struggles to silence himself so he can give out the game plan. Rich only goes redder. I see what Gar meant by how fun it is to mess with Rich.

Suddenly, a thought dawns on me. Kori!

I pick up my phone and dial her number, not bothering to wait for the dial tone. Her sister picks up. "Hello, is Kori there?"

Amanda pauses, as though thinking. "She isn't right now, actually. Is this Rachel?"

"Yes."

"Good! I wanted to talk to you about your little field trip with my sister. Do you think I could come along? The boys you're seeing are simply adorable."

I don't know what to say, so I dance around it. "I'm not sure; maybe you should ask Kori if it's okay. It was her idea, after all."

This obviously wasn't what she wanted to hear. "Oh, I see. Yes, well I will have to ask her, then. I'll have her call you when she gets in, and I'll see you tomorrow."

Before she hangs up, I hear Kori's distant voice in the background, "Wait, sister do not hang up! I am here—"

I almost laugh, but decide against it. The coach blows his whistle, signaling practice is over. Gar trots over to me, a shirt dangling over his shoulder and a water bottle and duffel bag in one hand.

Rich, after drenching himself in water, calls at Gar from where they were practicing.

"You need a ride home or what?" He calls.

Gar shakes his head. "Nah, I'll walk!"

He turns back to me and plops down on the grass. "You didn't actually need to stay."

I may appear somewhat anti-feminine on the outside, but I'd have to be insane not to want to stay and watch Gar run around without his shirt on. Of _course_ I needed to stay.

What happens? Old Rachel would've said some snappy retort, her voice dripping with sarcasm. New Rachel just blushes (How many times!) and stammers with her words.

"Well, I'm glad you did. Want to go for a walk?" He remembers the gray shirt on his shoulder and pulls it on. Damn.

"We shouldn't…"

His face falls. What is wrong with me? "…But I guess we could…"

I want to find the nearest opaque object and bring it hard against my forehead. Smite me down now, _please_.

He gets up, offering me his hand. "How'd I do? Did I live up to Rachel Roth's standards?"

Hmm, let's think about this. I get to see you run around all sweaty without a shirt on and totally kick Rich's-the-wonder-boy's butt. Yes, you lived up to my standards.

"I guess."

"You guess? Well, it's better than nothing, eh?" He elbows me, grinning.

A thought pops into my head. "Are you going on the ski trip Rich told me about?"

I can't read his expression anymore; it's like he's not happy, and he's not sad. He's just kind of there. "Uh huh," He says, somewhat nervously. "Are you?"

"Yes," I reply calmly.

"Oh."

That was it? 'Oh'? Was it that disappointing?

He seems to notice it, smiling at me.

---

"I'm glad," I say. And I am. I really am. Believe me, if I didn't want people questioning my sexuality, I'd be grabbing Rachel and dancing around with her.

She flusters again. It was her turn, "Oh."

"Does Rich like Kori?" She asks, not looking me in the eye. Whatever thoughts of happiness and joy were in me right now fell off the roof of a fifty story building and then were ran over a stampeding herd of wild wildebeest. Where those wildebeest came from, I'm not sure. She sounded nervous…almost jealous.

"Yes," I sigh. "And he won't shut up about it. Kori this, Kori that, blah blah blah."

She laughs softly. "Why? Do you like Rich or something?" Shit! That wasn't supposed to actually come out my mouth!

She blinks at me. "Uh…no. Should I?"

"Just wondering," I squeak to keep from smiling to largely. "So…do you like anyone?"

Hmm, maybe I should take Vic's idea on that psychiatric ward thing.

Rachel pulls up her hood. I don't know why she does, but I don't like it. I can't look at her when she does that.

"I don't think I need to answer that."

"Right," I laugh nervously. "You know Rae; I like it when your hood's down."

She freezes. "Really?"

"Really," I smile, pulling the hood down. "There. Now I can look at you properly."

She looks away. I don't know why, but I grab her hand. She stiffens, but eventually relaxes and links fingers with mine. We walk the rest of the path like that, hand in hand, in silence.

Before we know it, we've come to the end of the park. From there, we go separate ways. She quickly pulls away. "Um…so I'll see you sometime next week."

I laugh apprehensively again, scratching the back of my neck. "Right, we'll call."

She turns to walk away, but I grab her hand. I pull her back into me, kissing her softly on the cheek. "I'll see you," I whisper.

---

I rub the spot where he kissed my cheek…oh god, he kissed me. Even if it was only my cheek, it still kind of counted, didn't it?

Kori was going to flip.

And probably literally; the girl's got medals for gymnastics.

The minute I reach my house, I rush to my room. I bury my head in my pillow, murmuring the words, "What is happening?" over and over again to myself.

What _was_ happening?

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**Bwuahaha, you're in love! **

**Another boring chapter. Because I am in a bored mood. So I thought I'd spread my boredness to the fanfiction world. **

**I'm thinking about introducing Silkie. Whatcha guys think? So next chapter will finally have all the titan moments you've been begging me for. **

**I'm thinkin about also bringing Bee (Karen), Jinx (Jen), possibly Tara, and some other titan characters like Aqualad and Speedy. But I do not want this to be cliche; that's the direction I'm trying not to go in. I'm not sure! Let me know what you think, and any ideas you have for how to bring 'em.**

**Review!**


	7. The Lodge

**Sorry for the wait, dear readers, but I've reached 150 reviews! Yay. **

**You'll be disappointed in me, I guarantee. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Panic! At the Disco or TT. M'duh.**

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I feel someone kick me.

"Wake up, Gar," Wally nudges me again with his foot.

"C'mon man, we need to get going if we want to get some runs in today."

"Gar, get up!"

When I don't reply, just rolling away from my free friends, Rich storms out of the room where Vic and Wally just watch on dumfound. I grin in my sleep, snuggling my pillow.

I scream; my body is now drenched in ice cold water. My eyes snap open to see Rich standing over me with an empty pitcher and his eye twitching malevolently. "I said, _get up_."

Vic snickers behind his hand, where Wally makes no attempt to hide his laughter.

"Dude, that water's freezing!"

Rich shrugs nonchalantly. "Well, I asked your mother for some water, and she asked what for, and I told her I wanted to wake you up. So she went to the freezer and got some ice water."

"Yeah, well, I'm up now. So get out of here so I can get dressed," I scowl, ushering the gloating Rich and snickering Vic and Wally out. I press myself against the door as soon as its closed, letting out a huge sigh.

I hadn't actually packed yet, save for my ski clothes and gear, which were in a separate bag. I dug through my closet, finding a brown duffel bag. I plopped it down on my bed, hearing a knock at the door.

"Gar, c'mon man! How long does it take to get dressed?"

This is usually the part where I swear repeatedly, but I'm too busy trying to pack enough clothes to last the week.

"Uh, hold on, just a second!"

Grabbing half of the contents of my closet and dressers, I stuff them into the bag. I open the door and lean against the frame, casually brushing a strand of hair out of the way, struggling to act as though I hadn't been running around my room hysterically.

"So who's ready?" I grin, letting out a long breath.

Wally, maybe Rich, I could've fooled. But not Vic. "You just packed, didn't you?"

"What, me? No, of course not! Who do you take me for?"

"Right," Wally laughs sarcastically.

As we head towards the door, I pause and run back into my room. I emerge with a soccer ball, bouncing it on my knee.

Vic frowns. "You don't actually think you're gonna get a chance to play with that, do you man?"

"I can practice shooting on Rich," I wink at Rich, who is rolling his eyes. "And maybe show off for the girls," I add in a more hushed town. Rich takes a long gulp.

"Oh by the way, Gar, about the girls…"

---

"Rachel!" Kori screams, pouncing on my bed. I let out a scream, feeling the mattress deepen.

"What? Who's there?" I yell frantically, swerving my head to and fro.

"Oh Rachel, I simply adore your room!" She squeals, feeling the wall where a castle was painted. Figures. Kori is the kind of person who would always love a room like this.

She turns to me. "Are you ready?"

I've been ready since the day you ask me, I think to myself. "Of course, Rosie is probably bringing my things downstairs as we speak."

"Glorious!" She exclaims, grabbing me by the wrist and rushing me to the closet. "Come, we must pick out your outfit for when we arrive!"

I frown. "Err, why?"

"I did not tell you? Oh, my uncle has allowed us to stay at the Squaw lodge for the three days of our trip! Just imagine, we have our own room! We will be away from my sister, my brother, my uncle, though I will miss them, just you, I, and…Well, yes!"

I blink at her. "When did you decide this?"

Kori's face falls. "You are unhappy?"

"No, Kori. Actually, I'm rather relieved. Your sister is kind of…controlling_." And the fact that I'll be under the same roof as Gar doesn't make it half bad_, I add silently to myself.

"Good, but there is one more thing…" Kori trailed off, twiddling her thumbs.

Jen poked her head through the door at that moment. I felt faint. Yes, bookstore I've-got-free-time-why-don't-I-invade-your-privacy Jen.

"Hey Rachel," She says coolly, strolling over to Kori and resting an arm on her shoulder.

"J-Jennifer," I stammer back, trying to sound collected.

She gives a playful witchy laugh. "Please, I go by Jen. Are you guys ready to go?"

"We are, but I'm not so sure you are," I furrow my brows at her. Kori looks even more nervous. "Right, Kori?"

"Actually…I was speaking with Jennifer—"

"Jen," Jen interrupted.

"…Speaking with Jen and she was telling me of how she had no where to go for her vacation, and…I felt so bad, and since we would be spending the first nights on our own, I figured…"

"And I won't be there with Kori's family. I've got a ride home."

I sigh; what choice did I have? It wasn't like I disliked Jen, because she was a cool person. Sort of. My first impression of her had been a nosy know-it-all with a shady past. And first impressions tend to be pretty important for me.

"Fine," I breathe.

I realize I'm still in my pajamas and clutch my body protectively.

"Do you mind?"

"We're all girls here," Jen scoffs. "And besides, I want to see what's in the closet of Rachel Roth. By the way, I love the room décor," She adds smugly.

I'm gonna hunt you down, Jennifer Hexington. And then I'm going to make a voodoo doll of you and stab it repeatedly, then have a tea party with my other voodoo dolls, then throw it down a ravine filled with a family of very, very angry beavers.

Instead, I just give a sarcastic smile, slitting my eyes. "It's nothing interesting, really."

Jen laughs mockingly. "I'm sure. Now don't you want to look your best for Gar-y-wary?"

Gar-y-wary? What alternate dimension did this girl come from?

"Why would I care?" I snap, my face heating up.

"You tell me," Jen pretended to buff her nails against her chest, joining Kori at my closet. She frowns. "Do you have anything that isn't blue?"

"I have some black in there…"

"Whatever. You want to look good, right?"

I haven't cared about the way I look since I entered puberty.

"Yes."

Then Gar comes along and I've become girly. Just save me the trouble of jumping and shove me off a cliff.

"Rachel, could we take one of your cars?" Kori asks. I just now remember her, looking nervous and extremely out of her comfort zone. "I would prefer to not travel with…my sister."

Jen cocks an eyebrow and leans in. "Family issues?"

"Something like that," I whisper back. "Sure. Which one do you want to take?"

For the first time in five minutes, I see Kori smile.

---

"They're actually _staying_ at the lodge? Like, spending nights there?" I sputter disbelievingly.

"Yes. How many times do I need to repeat it?" Rich grunts, adjusting himself in the driver's seat of his SUV.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" I'll admit, I'm a little pissed. Why am I always the last to know everything?

"We did tell you, Gar. You just forgot."

I laugh. Yeah, right. I would've remembered that. "No, you didn't."

Vic shifts his shoulders up, sighing. "It was worth a try. Worked last time."

Something clicks in my head. "Worked last time…hey, wait a sec!"

"I actually kinda agree with Gar," Wally speaks up for the first time since we got in the car.

All heads turn to Wally. Wally, the flirt and somewhat of a player, didn't want to spend time with a group of girls. "So…what time last night abruptly did the aliens kidnap you and replace your brain?"

He shrugs. "I don't know, I just kind of have a bad feeling about it."

In my head, I think, _Probably because he can't hit on Kori, and he already said he didn't like Rachel. Poor boy, but Vic is in the same boat. _

With a grin and pat on the shoulder, Vic says, "Relax, man. What could go wrong?"

I could think of a few things.

---

After spending far too long for my tastes picking out my arrival outfit, we finally got going. As Kori requested, we took one of my cars. While we picked out which one we wanted, Jen took the liberty of whistling at every artifact and room we entered. I'm guessing it's her first time in a mansion.

We finally decided on a black Lexus and waited while a staff put the chains on the wheels.

Amanda hadn't been ecstatic learning we wouldn't be driving up with them, and spending the first few days of our trip at a different resort, but her uncle and brother hadn't listened to her whining and just drove off.

And now I was behind the wheel, being the best driver. Kori's driving skills were fair, but she's had her share of accidents. And unless you had a death wish, Jen didn't come anywhere near the wheel.

So by majority and just plain common sense, I was picked as driver. Kori sat in the passenger seat, where Jen just watched videos by the player built into the car in the back.

We'd requested snacks before we left, Jen's idea, and she had already eaten half of them. For someone so skinny, she sure had an appetite.

We were about ¾'s of the way there, it being about a two and a half hour drive. Kori had occupied herself with one of her many fashion magazines, occasionally pointing out something she found cute or funny. Not wanting to disturb either of the two, I'd slipped my iPod earphones in and tuned everyone else out.

Jen noticed me bobbing my head up in beat to the rhythms of Evanescence and pulled my laptop out of my suitcase. Humming slightly as she clicked around, I kept finding my eyes wandering to her using the rear-view mirror.

Eventually, I couldn't take it. "Jen, what are you doing?"

She looked up, eyes darting from me to Kori, who'd put down her magazine as soon as I spoke up.

"Your songs are way boring. Evanescence is cool, but other then that, everything is just classical and plain music," She snorts. "So I took the liberty of sprucing it up a bit."

"Thanks for asking," I grunt, pulling my earphones out. Jen clicks one more time, and a song fills the car.

_Is it still me that makes you sweat  
Am I who you think about in bed  
When the lights are dim and your hands are shaking as you're sliding off your dress  
Then think of what you did  
And how I hope to God he was worth it  
_

"What is this?" Kori asks, cocking her head.

"Panic! At the Disco," Jen says with a smile. "Best band ever."

I wouldn't say best band ever, but I have to admit it's a pretty good song. Upbeat but the lyrics are okay.

_Let's get these teen hearts beating, faster, faster  
So testosterone boys and harlequin girls  
Will you dance to this beat, and hold a lover close  
So testosterone boys and harlequin girls  
Will you dance to this beat, and hold a lover close _

---

"Your bags are pretty light Gar. Are you sure you didn't under pack?" Vic asks as he grabs my things from the back of Rich's car.

"I packed what I thought necessary. I've got a few shirts, pants, and shorts, the _other_ essentials," my grin widens, seeing Rich roll his eyes behind his sunglasses. You can always tell, because his eyebrows have spent so much time hidden from view that you can just tell what he's thinking by looking at them, "And a ski jacket and two pairs of ski pants. And my snowboard, of course."

That satisfied Vic; it appeared, because he didn't say anything else until we were at the checkout counter.

"Hello," Rich greeted the girl behind the counter. She was a teenager, looking as though this was her first job. Her hair was black, with tuffs of red dyed in.Everything was under Rich's name, since he was the one with the money. His uncle financed everything we did together, from boy scouts to a road trip to southern California last summer.

"Reservations are under Grayson, Richard," He said, leaning over the wood table.

The girl's eyebrows shot up, "The two bedroom suite?"

We'd agreed to share bedrooms. Wally and I would share, and so would Vic and Rich. This decision was made primarily for Wally, who would probably try to sneak a girl in if we each had our own room.

But with the way he was acting, it didn't look necessary.

"I'll need to see some ID," She says kindly, her tone changing from curtly to overly sweet. Bruce Wayne and Richard Grayson had big money, and were treated like celebrities almost wherever they went.

Feeling already bored, I join Wally at the couch. The hotel is comfy, what one might expect from a lodge. They went for a log cabin kind of feel, with faux bearskin rugs and a roaring fire place in the center.

The fireplace was shaped strange, literally in the middle of the lobby. It was like one of those old fashioned ovens, its stem shooting up through the ceiling. The yellow and orange flames licked at the steel that kept it in, not even bothering to try and get out through the brick covering elsewhere.

The fireplace was huge, so that you couldn't see anything on the other side. We had gotten in right in time; a storm was supposed to hit later. I could hear the winds whirring outside. It didn't discourage us, because it was supposed to pass by the next day, and that meant fresh snow.

I hear a familiar voice on the other side of the kiln, "What's taking Kori so long?"

Another voice, one sounding less known speaks up. "Looks like she sees someone she recognizes…hey, that's Rich Grayson, and Vic Stone. Wonder where the rest of their posse is."

I'm straining my ears, and I notice Wally is too. The voice falters, stammering out, "Y-you don't see Gar?"

A haughty laugh comes from the other voice. "If my calculations are correct, he's sitting on the other side of this fireplace with Sir Talks-A-Lot, listening in on our conversation."

---

"What?" I screech, immediately clapping my hands over my mouth.

Jen motions for me to look around. Sure enough, there's Gar, leaning back on the couch with Wally, trying desperately to look casual.

He sees me, smiling in that way that makes me want to melt and also hit him over the head with a rock for being so smug.

"Rachel! I didn't know you were here," He says.

Sure you didn't, pretty boy.

"When did you get in?"

He checks his watch. "Not long ago. And yourself?"

Jen pops out from behind the fireplace, something she's being doing a lot of (Popping around that is). "About ten minutes ago. Kori was checking us in," She scoffed, "but it looks like she got a little delayed."

I see Wally's blue eyes light up. "You're in my drama class, right?"

She rolls her eyes, walking over to Kori, probably to knock some sense in her. Wally just leans back in the couch, arms spread out over the spine. "Oh yeah, she digs me."

Apprehensively, I take a seat next to him. He immediately wraps his arm around me loosely, like a brother would to a sister. Like a friend would to another friend. Because we're friends, right?

"How long are you here?" He asks, looking genuinely interested.

"About three days," I sigh.

"Do you ski or snowboard?"

What is this, twenty questions? "Ski, but I'd much rather spend my free time by the fire with a nice mug of tea and a good book."

He wrinkles his nose. "Well, you can do that when you go back to Northstar. Here, you ski with the rest of us."

Distantly, I hear Wally mumble, "Don't mind me, I'll just keep sitting here."

Moments later, I heard Jen call my name and Kori waving at Rich. Gar releases me, still smiling. "See you later."

I feel a tug at my lips, and struggle to keep it down, "Er, yeah…later."

* * *

**This was a boring chapter. There's no denying it; I've reached a new level of lameness.**

**"Do you have anything that's not blue?" - line from Final Exam, sort of. **

**Next chapter, I promise to you, will be better. I've already written some of it, and we even have -coughcoughwheezehackfluffcough-**

**Haha, it's funny how the lot of you all think that I was actually going to make Silkie a mutant larva. Well, I think it's kind of funny. He'd be a mutt with a rather silky coat that Gar finds have starved, blah. He'd be used to bring the group closer together. I might not, though.**

**No Terra, it seems. I will have cameos of a lot of the titans; we've already had Argent's. Next will probably be Aqualad or Speedy a ski instructor, or tourist, blah.**


	8. Of Snowballs and Of Kisses

**I, once again, apologize for the pathetic-ness of chapter 7. **

**I like this one a lot more.**

**Dislcaimer: I don't own Panic! or TT. Yes, I love Panic! So much I gave them another little song cameo. nn**

* * *

"Hey Rich," I call casually, craning my neck so that I could see into Vic and Rich's room. 

Rich pauses his unpacking and appears in the doorway, "Yeah?"

"Your full name is Richard, isn't it?"

I notice Vic and Wally both stop their individual unpacking and start to listen in. Rich cocks an eyebrow. "…Yeah…"

"So why don't you go by Dick? I mean, it's a little more suit—" I would've finished my sentence, but I had to duck because of the pillow coming straight at my head.

I had the least to unpack, so I had been in the process of getting dressed. Of course, I'd been a little rushed through it. Guess even my guy friends got jealous at the sight of my hot bod, eh?

I tugged on my purple jacket, zipping it up as I hummed along to some random tune. With my black snowboarding pants, brown musher's hat, black gloves, a pair of goggles that would forever stay at my neck, and my snowboard, I was ready to go.

"Anyone else ready head down to the slopes?" I ask excitedly.

Wally looks at me as though I'm crazy. He's in his casual clothes. "We haven't even had breakfast yet!"

Oh, right. That.

For once, I'm actually not hungry. Right now, all I want to do is feel the wind in my face as I race down the mountain. Like Wally said, most guests were eating breakfast right now and the lines would be relatively empty.

"Whatever, I'll just eat when I get back. I'm gonna go out; see you around," I say with a shrug to my shoulders.

I hear a collective murmur signaling they heard me, and I head for the door.

---

Grunting, I bury my nose further into my book. Shut up, shut up, _shut up_!

And this time, I'm not talking about Kori or Jen. When we'd gone down to eat breakfast, I thought I'd have a calming mug of tea and just settle down with my novel. Well, fate had other plans.

"Look buddy, I don't make the food or the menus! Just order something that isn't seafood and let me go serve someone else!" A waiter, a muscular boy with bright red hair shouted, throwing his arms around wildly. The napkin that had been draped over his arm fell to the ground.

The customer, a handsome teenager with long black hair stood up in his seat, jabbing the waiter in the chest; hard. The girl across from him shook her head and slunk deeper into her seat. "Well you could still do something about it!"

"No, I couldn't!"

"Yes you could!"

"I couldn't!"

"You could!"

"I couldn't!"

"You could!"

"I couldn't!"

"You couldn't!"

"I could!"

The dark-haired boy folded his arms smugly. The waiter's temple swelled and pulsed before he stormed off, throwing the menu out of his hands as he cursed repeatedly.

"Finally," I hear Jen breathe.

"Why did they argue?" Kori asks. Kori, Kori, Kori. Could you snap out of Ms. Innocent for a minute?

"Difference of opinion," I shrug my shoulders.

"How strange," Kori muses.

"You ski, right Rachel?" Jen asks.

"Yes."

She pouts, sticking her tongue out of the side of her mouth as she mumbles. "Bah, you're no fun. I'm going out to the slopes."

Jen didn't own any supplies, but I lent her my card to rent one. She was already dressed in her ski clothes.

She comes back roughly twenty minutes later completely ready, gripping her snowboard tightly. "I'll be back in a few hours. Try not to bore yourselves to death while I'm out."

"Now why would we do that when we can just go out and get frostbite?"

"Oh, you're hilarious. Anyway, see you later," She waves as she walks off. I squint my eyes in her direction; I see someone vaguely familiar hold the lodge door open for her, holding his own snowboard.

Slinking back into my chair, I slip my headphones in and listen to one of the songs she bought.

_It's these substandard motels on the corner of 4th and Freemont Street  
Appealing only because they are just that un-appealing  
Any practiced catholic would cross themselves upon entering  
The rooms have a hint of asbestos and maybe just dash a of formaldehyde  
And the habit of decomposing right before your very eyes. _

---

"Hey…Jennifer, was it?" I stammer. She frowns. Did I get her name wrong?

"It's Jen. How many people do I need to tell?" She grunts.

I laugh. "Heading out?"

She shrugs as we walk towards the ski lift, the snow crunching under our boots. "Nah, I just like walking around with my snowboard. Makes me feel cool, you know?"

We both get in line, strapping ourselves into our boards as we wait. There isn't much of a wait though, so we're quickly loaded. Once we're up, I dangle my arms over the edge of the lift.

"You know, in all my time at JHS, I never pictured this."

"Pictured what?" Why do girls always confuse me so much?

She shrugs, spreading her arms out. "…This. Me being here, me sitting on a lift with you, probably going down the same run…"

I frown at her; did she get the wrong idea?

"Not like that, tree-hugger. But I mean it's strange how beautiful life can be when it's at its simplest. It doesn't need beer, drugs, or stolen goods to make it that way, it just is."

"What are you getting at?"

Jen turns away, eyes dropping to our feet below. "Never mind," She says softly.

"There's something you aren't telling me," I persist; because I can tell when something's up. My Gar-senses never fail me.

"Oh, don't play dumb. I'm sure you know the story," She snaps. Err...that was very un-Jen like.

"Uh…no, I don't."

"You didn't see it all over the news?" She looks genuinely confused.

What am I supposed to say? "Uh…no?"

"My father…is in jail. He was driving under the influence and hit and killed three people. You really didn't hear about it?"

"No," I whisper, because that's all I can manage. I mean, I knew Jen had something built up behind that wall, but never something like this.

"Yeah, well that kind of thing gives you a new view on life. I feel dirty being related to someone who just ended something so wonderful without a care. I visited him a few months after the accident, and he just laughed in my face when I asked if he felt sorry. He told me, 'Kid, I did those people a favor. Some other idiot would've just done it later on.'

"It just made me think; it really turned my life around, upside down, vertical, horizontal, you name it," she laughs softly, her dark eyes staring out blankly at the evergreen trees covered in dainty white snow.

"That's probably why you should just forget what your parents think and hook up and spend what time you have together," She added in a more Jen-like tone. Philosophical Jen had flown the coop.

"What?" I choke on my own words.

"You really don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

Mm, perfect timing Mr. Guy-who-controls-the-sky-lift. Just as she had opened her mouth to reply, our lift dipped onto a small hill on the snow and she slid off. I soon followed.

"Later, tree-hugger," She pulled up her goggles and did a small jump to take off down the slope.

"Hey, wait up!" I yell. What the hell was she talking about; spend what time we have together?

---

"Richard! Richard, over here!" Kori squeals, waving Rich, Vic, and Wally over. Vic smiles at Kori, looking at me mutually. Rich breaks out into a grin, his cheeks a light hue of pink, and Wally just nods his greeting.

"Where's Jen?" He asks.

"She went to the mountains of snow," Kori replied cheerily.

"Couldn't resist the call of the wild, eh? Gar couldn't either," Rich laughs.

Something clicks in my head. It had been Gar, holding the door open for Jen! A new feeling bubbled inside me, one that made me feel tainted. I was…jealous?

I see Wally blink his eyes repeatedly.

Vic leans back in his chair, nudging Rich in the rib. "I've got an idea. When the two get back, how about we have an old fashioned snowball fight?"

Wally snapped out of his trance and lit up like a dance floor in the seventies. (A/N: I used this line in one of my other stories; I'm that lame. Sue me.) "Yes!" He punched a fist in the air.

"We'd have uneven teams," Rich pointed out.

"So we'll find someone; there're tons of kids around the resort who would love an old fashioned snowball fight. There're a classic!"

"Can I get you guys something?" Everyone's eyes darted to behind Vic, where the source of the voice stood, arm propped against her waist with a notepad pulled out.

The girl was short, around my height, with bright blue eyes and faded orange hair. "Pardon?" I ask.

She shrugs. "Well, I'm the waiter, and you're the customers. It's only natural that I ask if there's anything you can get, isn't it? We just got a shipment of fruits that are delicious, checked them out myself."

"I'll take you up on that," Vic held up a finger.

The rest of us just order drinks, Kori and I refreshing our hot chocolate and herbal tea. Once the girl skipped off, Rich raised an eyebrow and Wally burst out in laughs. Kori and I exchanged glances.

"What's so funny?"

Between laughter, Wally jerks at Vic with his thumb. "Vic doesn't eat anything that doesn't have meat somewhere in it. Otherwise, we could've used that check for ear surgery on something else."

Vic scowls, sticking his tongue out. When the girl came back, a bowl of fruit and steaming drinks resting on a tray, Kori resisted the urge to grab the girl into a hug.

"New friend, what is your name?"

"We're friends already?" The girl raised an eyebrow, giggling.

"Oh, well…"

"Nah, it's okay. I'm Kole."

I smirk, "Isn't Kole a boy's name?"

"Not when you spell it the way I do," She set our orders down, tugging at the nametag that had 'Kole' written in bold caps.

"So you guys here on vacation?" She asks, smiling.

"We sure are. And you?" Vic interrupts before anyone else can say anything.

"I live here, unlike you lucky folk. My uncle owns the lodge, so he gives me a job here when I don't have anywhere to go."

"Well we're going out for an old fashioned snowball fight in a few hours and we need a person to even out the teams. You in?"

"I don't even know you," Kole laughs. "But sure, why not. I get off in about half an hour, meet me in the lobby."

---

Breathing heavily, Jen props her goggles up on her forehead. "Good run, eh?"

"Yeah, great run," I mumble. Save me the small talk; I want answers, woman! "So listen, what did you mean by—"

"There you are!" Before I could finish, I see Vic jogging towards me in his winter clothes, the other's lagging behind him. Among them is a girl I don't recognize.

"Man, you've been out for hours. We've been waiting!"

I scrunch up my face. "Waiting? Why?"

Wally catches up in no time, grinning. "We're having a snowball fight. We've already decided the teams and everything."

"Gee, thanks for letting us know," Jen snorts.

Ignoring Jen, Wally continues, "It's you, me, Rachel, and Kole—"

"Kole?" I interrupt.

Vic gestures to the redhead laughing with Kori.

"—Jen, Vic, Rich, and Kori. We put the teams pretty even, I think. You an' me against Rich and Vic isn't completely fair, but Kole has an amazing arm. And I figured you'd want Rachel on your team, so we decided that from the beginning."

I feel my cheeks start to heat up. "W-what gave you that idea?"

Wally just grins smugly and looks away whistling.

I see Rich wave at us to come over. "We've waited hours already, let's get this on!"

---

I can't say I've really been paying attention, my eyes fixed on Gar. He's patting down more snowballs for me, Wally, Kole, and himself. Wally is crouched over the side of the fort, throwing all the snowballs Gar worked so hard on carelessly. Kole, on the other hand, takes her time aiming, but each one hits dead on.

Even in the snowboarding pants and ski jacket, he's still adorable. His face is a soft pink from the cold, and he's wearing a faux-fur lined musher's hat, clashing horribly with the dark purple coat and black pants. I see strands of sandy colored hair peeking out at the ends and around his ears.

Distantly, I hear someone yelling at me that 'it's on', whatever that means. I swivel my head, turning to see Rich pulling back his arm to aim a perfectly rounded snowball.

I see Gar snap his head up. "Rachel, duck!"

I let out a small gasp as I see Gar charge towards me, his body slowly moving in the classic heroic dive. The snowball is airborne now, coming flawlessly towards me.

Gar is upon me, yelling, and "Get down!"

He throws his body on top of me, pushing me forcefully to the ground. I turn my eyes towards Wally, who seems to have taken my snowball. Without me to block his way, he was hit dead on.

We land a few yards behind the fort, rolling slightly down a dip in the snow. We're out of anyone's view, save for Wally if he chose to stop cursing and look around. Kole was too busy laughing to notice.

And then, I do something even more out of character for me. I laugh.

I don't know why, but the giggles just keep coming, forcing themselves up my throat and out of my mouth, sometimes being accompanied by small hiccups.

Maybe it was the fact that I was almost hit by a snowball I could've seen coming by a mile, or it was because I had been thinking about a boy to see it, or that the position suddenly became extremely awkward.

He landed directly on top of me, his firm legs straddling my lower waist. He's leaning on his forearms, hovering right above me, and his pink nose brushing against mine slightly.

And of course, I'm idiot-Rachel and just keep giggling, mentally kicking myself to stop.

He doesn't join me in laughter, just smiles in that way that's a half grin and so sexy.

Brain…slowing…bodily functions…shutting down…

He leans down lower, our eyelashes gently brushing.

This is one of those moments when you don't feel like yourself, like you're some angel watching a scene from above. And right now all I saw was Gar cupping my face softly and bringing his lips onto mine.

When I'm old, graying and wrinkly, I'm going to look back on this moment and laugh at what an idiot I am, still giggling. Of course, it's more of nervous laughter now, but that's beside the point.

It was only a light peck, his lips barely grazing my own. He pulls back slightly, but not enough so that it's like he wishes to stop. My giggles have ceased, and all I can do is blink like the true loser I am.

Before anything else can happen, a gruff "Ahem" sounds above us, and Gar scrambled off me faster than you can say 'awkward tension'.

I almost want to laugh at Gar's expression, the kind that you see on a three year old who just broke something he thought as important.

We both look up to see Vic towering above us, his face mixed with anger and shock.

I sat up, seeing Kori, Wally, Jen, Kole, and Rich all standing not far off, eyes flickering from me, to Gar, to Vic.

Grabbing Gar by the cuff of his collar and dragging him back into the lodge, he mumbled something nearly inaudible, but I caught it, "We need to talk."

* * *

**-squeal-**

**Ohh, cliffie. Okay, that wasn't the magical first kiss I had in mind, but they'll get the proper fluff later on. I just couldn't stand not giving them some action. **

**Two chapters in one night! **

**Haha, Aqua and Speedy. The girl across from him was probably Bee...I'm not sure.**

**I didn't put Jen with Wally on the same team to avoid each team being pairing-oriented. And yes, I like Kole/Cyborg. I am weird like that. **

**The kiss/snowball scene was written at first by mah dear Jessica, or Rainbow-Jess, so major creds to her for letting me rewrite it in my own version! **

**If you people like my stories, check out hers. They're great! **

**Mrrm, so yes. Review, my dahlinks, review.**


	9. Home Coming

**Esquee! 206 reviews! Score one for Sarah!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TT or Dashboard Confessional. Wish I did, cuz then I'd be hella rich. Oh, and I don't own Poser Mobile either.**

**Oh, and I apologize for the atrocity of their little blood oath, as you'll see. I meant it to be bad. **

* * *

"What the hell, man! What the hell was that?" 

I want to wince, but I shake the feeling. I won't crack. "Don't 'what the hell' me! I should be 'what the hell'-ing you!" My temper's rising, jabbing him in the chest.

"You can't go around kissing people—especially not her! Do you have any idea what it could do if—"

"You don't think I know that? You don't think that I haven't spent sleepless nights thinking about it? And don't give me any of that 'you can think?' crap, alright? Because contrary to beliefs, I do actually have a brain!"

I've lost it now, I can tell. But that doesn't mean I'm stopping. I want to, believe me. I've already walked off the cliff of sanity, letting my inner beast do the talking.

"Whoa man—" Vic backed away slightly, stumbling into Rich and his room. His hands were held up in defensive protest, swaying them slightly for me to calm down.

Calming down was the last thing I'd be doing.

"What right do you think you have, dragging me off like this? I don't care if it's what my father would've done, or what a brother would've done, but you can't do it, because you aren't family! This is a family issue, not yours!"

I've gone too far. Shut up, Gar. Shut up before you ruin everything you have.

Instead of cowering even more, he straightens. He's towering above me; even with my growth spurt, I hadn't come anywhere near to Vic's height, gray-blue eyes hard. "I see how it is, then."

I'm the steaming pan and the ice water just hit.

"Look, Vic, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that…"

"No, it's okay. You're right. I'm not your family, and this isn't my problem," He says coldly, blinking only once.

He makes way for the door. I may be weaker, but I am faster. I spread my arms over it, back pressing against the wood hard. "Vic, you know I didn't mean it…"

He looks away.

"Dude, you're my best friend. You may not be related by genetics, but we're blood brothers. Remember the oath?"

He says nothing. "Remember?" He gives a small sigh.

"Pals 'till the end, always my best friend. Never will anything come between us; we'll listen to what the other says without a fuss. Nothing will break us apart, not a girl or a broken heart," He whispers, expression softening.

What would you expect? We made that up the summer before eighth grade. After the Leslie Norton-dance incident, we pricked our fingers and wrote a blood pact to make sure it wouldn't happen again.

"Not a girl, remember?" I murmur softly.

"She isn't just 'a girl', Gar."

"No, she isn't. She's amazing—she's everything. I…love her," I stammer, coming to realization with my feelings. My brain pauses, considering what I just said. I did love her. I want to be with her, I want to feel her steady breath next to me when I wake in the morning; I want to hold her hand when she was having problems, and I want to be her knight in shining armor.

His face flickers from shock to understanding.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

That makes two of us.

---

After Gar had been dragged off by Vic, it left me alone to explain everything to the others. I just hoped no one had seen anything.

Rich and Wally knew it best not to go up to the room right then and disappeared into the lobby with Kole, leaving me with Kori and Jen.

Kori was making me some tea to soothe the shivers I had. Whether from the incident or from the snow that had found its way up my back, I wasn't sure. As I snuggled myself into the covers, I felt weight add to the bed. I blink my eyes open. Not now, Jen. Save me the 'I told you so's, okay?

She smiles faintly, gripping my hand. "I don't know exactly what happened, but by the way Vic reacted I'm guessing it had been…both good and bad."

"Nothing happened," I snap. Hello denial, party of one? Your table's ready.

"Rachel."

I look up at her, not seeing the Jen I usually see. This Jen is different. Her tone is colder, stricter, but more understanding. Gee Jen, bipolar much?

"Don't lie."

I say nothing, steadying my breaths. "He kissed me."

"I thought so."

You thought so? What are you Jen, a mind reader? One day, I vow to you, I will find out which alien planet you come from.

Kori returns, a steaming white mug in her hands. Handing it to me, I watch as she takes a seat next to Jen. No words are exchanged, just nods and conversations through the eyes.

"Did you like it?" Jen asks. And before you yell at Jen for being a pervert, you need to hear her voice. It's not the giddy school girl-gossip-with-anything-that-moves tone; it's one of a real friend. Funny how life works that way, isn't it?

"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to like it," I pause, closing my eyes. "I want to, though."

A dreadful silence drapes over the room. Breaking it after ten or so minutes, I whisper, "Kori?"

She looks up from her hands in her lap. "Yes?"

"I want to go home."

---

"W-what do you mean, they left?"

"Do you want me to repeat it? You had to go and kiss Rachel and make them leave!" Rich growls. The grip on the desk chair arms tightens.

"Don't blame him!" Vic shouts. I think that shocked pretty much everyone in the room, me included. Probably Vic too.

So this is what awkward silence feels like.

Acting as mediator, Vic pushed Rich and I apart. "Its nobodies fault and we aren't starting a conflict over this. It isn't worth it."

"It isn't worth it," I repeat softly, more to myself then anyone.

Wally, who had remained silent throughout the past hour or so, glanced at the clock by the table. "It's late."

"You're right," Vic sighs. If he had hair, his hand would be running through it. "We should all get some sleep, actually."

Each of us pairing off to our respective rooms, no one utters a 'good night' or 'see you in the morning'. What have I done?

---

"You're sure you're not mad, Kori?" I asked for the umpteenth time.

She shakes her head. "I am sure I am not mad, Rachel. Your feelings are understandable and I respect that you wish to return home. I shall see you next week, perhaps?"

I nod. "Thank you, and call me when you get back."

"Good bye, friends! I shall be seeing you soon!"

Jen slid into the passenger seat, not bothering to do her seatbelt. "That girl certainly has an interesting way of talking."

I don't reply; just stare out at the salt-covered roads as I pull out of the lodge parking lot. "I'm worried," I finally say, breaking the silence.

"'Bout what?" Jen asks, clicking around on my laptop again.

"When I called to say I would be coming home soon, my father was...happy."

_She said "I've gotta be honest,  
You're wasting your time if you're fishing round here."  
And I said "you must be mistaken,  
I'm not fooling...this feeling is real"  
She said "You've gotta be crazy,  
What do you take me for? Some kind of easy mark?  
"No, you've got wits, you've got looks,  
You've got passion, but I swear that you've got me all wrong." _

She pops her gum. "What's weird about that? Most parents love that their kids want to come home instead of spending time with their friends. Teenagers get reclusive from their parents at this age."

"No…he would've wanted me out of the house. He just told me there would be a surprise waiting for me when I got home. And on top of that, my father is _never_ happy. Pleasant, maybe, but never happy."

Jen's eyes lit up. "Oh, what do you think it is? A pony? A new car? Permission to date G—"

"Jen, shut up so I can drive."

She did.

---

Shame, and it had been such a good dream too.

"Good morning, Squaw Valley! Today's weather today is perfect for skiing or whatever you choose to do on the slopes, with a lovely temperature of…"

I groggily rolled over in my sleep as I heard Wally mumble, "No Tidily-Wink, no…Not the aubergines…"

I waved my arm around me lazily, feeling around for the snooze button. I don't know how many buttons I pressed but nothing seemed to be working. Still half asleep, I threw my pillow at the alarm. I heard it crash to the ground moments later with a notable thud.

"Damn it, Gar!" I hear Vic yell, after following another thud, that one much louder, and a rather girly scream. They must've assumed it was me, since I was the one with the bedside table that had the alarm clock.

I chuckle softly, fluffing a pillow over my ears. Still only partly asleep, I hear whispering coming from the other room. Running water…snickering…They weren't going to try that again, where they?

I resist the urge to laugh; revenge truly is sweet…

---

"Fees, shorty fees!" Jen yells, her hand lingering on the door knob to the front door open. I almost laugh, but then the anxiety hits and I'm reminded of what waits, or what could wait, at home.

Maybe I wouldn't need to go home just yet. I do a U-turn on Jen's street and park near her house. I see a glance of pink hair darting around the corner. Frowning, I get out of my car and follow.

I turn the corner, seeing the same pink mass of braids enter through a doorway. The house was smaller than the one she had me drop me off at, with an unclipped lawn and an old paint job. I knock hesitantly.

Jen almost immediately opens, face falling. "…Rachel?"

In the background, a slurred yelling echoes. Jen winces and closes the door behind her, joining me on the porch. "So go ahead. Tell me how you're too ashamed to be my friend anymore. A rich girl like yourself can't be seen with a lowlife without money for college and a drunkard mother and imprisoned father."

I raise an eyebrow. "Is that really how you see me?"

"I've seen your house, your cars…"

"What, out of that, gave you the impression that I wouldn't want to be your friend anymore?"

She says nothing, rocking back on her heels. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be." She finally breaks the silence.

"Jennifer…" I trail off, gesturing that I want her middle name.

"Agnes."

"Jennifer Agnes Hexington, what evil brain controlling vampire came into your room and gave you a hallucination bite, thinking that would ever be reason enough for me not to want to be your friend?"

She laughs softly. "You're funny when you're tense."

"I'm not tense!" I scream, my voice immediately dropping.

Her face resumes solemn. "So what did you want?"

"T-to talk."

---

The water shuts off, the snickering and shushing growing louder. The floorboards creak as they inch closer.

I can picture them through my closed eyes. Rich is holding the pitcher, same malevolent twitch in his eye, Vic rubbing his hands together in a most evil fashion and petting his imaginary cat.

The shuffling stops. I hear them whisper, "One…two…" The water in the pitcher swishes, and I assume it was swinging.

"Three!" I shout, jumping up in bed. They each let out a cry and the water is jerked backwards, hitting them dead on.

Woken by the commotion, Wally sits up in bed, blinking his eyes to keep from falling asleep again. Mumbling, he manages, "Whatsa…goin'…on?"

Then he gets a good look at the drenched Vic and Rich, both of their faces hot enough to boil the water away and begins to laugh.

I don't laugh, just smirk and wave my brows. "Now, what happens next?" I tap my finger to my chin, pretending to think. "Oh yes…I laugh!"

---

"Seriously Rae…Just tell him. It'll do you a lot of good," Jen called before stepping back into the house. And I'd dropped her off at her house, I made sure.

Just tell him, Rae…What's the worst that could happen?

Besides the end of the world, everyone on the planet being infected by some other worldly disease and fading away slowly and painfully, or everyone dying by nuclear?

Or, was this before or after the apocalypse?

I punch the buttons into the keypad, not really relived to be home. Parking my car in the garage, I enter the house through the garage, practicing my lines in my head.

_Heya, daddy-o. Listen, I know you're like, mortal enemies with this Mark Logan guy, but how about you put aside your nearly twenty year-old battle for me, so I can date Gar freely? You wouldn't mind, would you?_

And then, assuming that went well, there was always the problem with Gar.

_Hey Gar, it's me Rachel. Hey, you doing anything for the rest of your life? I was thinking we could go proclaim our love to each other and then wait a few years, maybe get married? What do you say?_

Yeah, that'd go over easy.

I need to pass the dining room to get to my room because of the way I entered the house, counting heads silently as I go by. One…there's my father. Two…and there's my mother. Three…wait, three?

My father's head jerks up, motioning for me to come over. Hesitantly, I enter, eyes darting around suspiciously. They land on the third occupant, a handsome boy around my age with silvery blond hair and electric blue eyes.

My mother pats the seat next to her. "Rachel dear, this is Michael."

* * *

**What's with all the cliff hangers lately, hm? If you don't know who Michael is...I'm not going there. **

**You can all thank CyniSar for the cliffies, my inner cynic. Well, this isn't really cynical, but whatever.**

**Another boring chapter...Oh well. **

**"Hey, you doing anything for the rest of your life?" I liked that. -shrugs-**

**Anyway, you know the drill!**


	10. Confucius Says

**Shorter chapter, and a boring one at that. Cheesy and kinda cute, but boring. Sorry to say I'm still on my cliffhanger kick. Sorry!**

**Disclaimer: Blah blah blah -insert disclaimer here-**

* * *

"It always kills me when I find myself back in this dump again," I grumble, dumping my backpack behind my seat.

"You and the rest of us," Wally adds. "But apart from the girls leaving early, I think the vacation went pretty well, don't you think?"

I gave a small shrug as the teacher droned on in the background. "I'm not sure. I think Rich is still a little pissed at me for making his girlfriend go."

Wally waves a hand to dismiss it. "He'll get over it. He can see her today, can't he?"

In the back of the classroom, no one, save for the students around them, heard their conversations. "I never would've seen Rich pining after someone like her. You know with, like…Kathryn or something."

Wally chuckled. "Open your eyes; he can't stand her. And I don't blame him with Kori—she's way hot."

"Is that all you see?"

"Pretty much," he winked, but I knew he was joking. "Although, she does talk pretty weird," He adds.

"No kidding! Last week I was talking to her, and I saw a fly. So I waved at it and say 'shoo'. And you know what she said?"

Wally raised his eyebrows. "She said: What about it?"

"Kinda ditzy, that one," he agreed.

I shake my head. "Not ditzy…I'd say foreign."

Wally gave a snort and looked away, falling into his own little world where he ran around faster than usual in a jumpsuit because…well, Wally had always been a little off his rocker.

---

I hate school.

And more than usual, too. I had been fine with my schedule, but once again, someone up there had other plans. Fate is like the really creepy old Japanese men who could kick your ass in a millisecond, and use metaphors to explain everything. They like to dance around the subject, just hand you some information and let you choose what you do with it. I feel sorry for the next old Asian guy I see.

Out of the blue, my three of my classes got rescheduled. The first was math, the second was French, and the third was P.E. I didn't really mind, but change is sometimes hard for me to accept. I'd probably just end up in math class when I should be in French, or something.

I handed the note to the teacher, tugging on the cotton uniform. Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone…waving at me?

Gar jogs over, practically glowing, and gives me a small squeeze on the shoulders. "Hey," He murmurs. Well…that was most un-Gar like. It was almost…seductive?

No, no, that couldn't be it. He was just being friendly.

Yeah, that's it.

"What are you doing in this class?" He asks as we join the rest of our class on the field. I spot Vic and Rich among them, along with a few other girls I'd like to see walk off the face of the earth: Kathryn Moth and Kori's sister, Amanda.

"My schedule got messed with…they didn't offer me much insight why."

"Well, I'm glad—"

He was cut off abruptly by the coach blowing his whistle. "Thanks to a great idea from Mr. Logan, we'll be playing soccer today. Pair into groups of four and grab a spot on the field and a few cones."

I could see Kathryn eyeing Rich and was only seconds away from motioning him over when Vic beat her to it, "Rachel? You want to play with me, Rich, and Gar?"

I mumble a "Sure" and follow, still dazed. Since when was Vic this nice to me?

"Rachel can be on my team," Gar grinned, lazily pulling me into him with his arm draped around my waist. Don't blush, don't blush…

"You want to be goalie?"

Ha! That's a good one. No, I don't want to be goalie. "Okay."

Vic groaned. "Come on man, now that's not fair. I don't want to be against you."

"And neither do I when we play football. Get over it, you big baby," Gar winked at me as Rich gave a small whistle, signaling they could begin.

Gar wasted no time; he dodged around Vic two seconds flat and was already aiming the ball. His shot didn't go straight in; Rich managed to catch it. He kicked it to Vic, who immediately gave it a strong boot at me, the goalie. I closed my eyes and held out my hands, bracing for impact.

"Go Rachel!" I hear Gar yell. Go Rachel? What was he talking about? I opened one eye to see the ball in my cupped hands. I kick it now, right?

I shut my eyes again and kicked the ball straight in Gar's direction. They snapped open after hearing a shrill cry and a thud. Gar was rolling around on the ground, hands clasped below his stomach, moaning as the soccer ball rolled away from him, almost sheepishly.

---

Golly gee whiz, that sure did a number!

I think every curse I knew at that moment flew out of my mouth. I open an eye to see Rachel with wide eyes, hands clapped over her mouth and Vic and Rich slapping their knees with laughter. There're never going to let me live this one down.

I sit up, doing my best to act casual. I bite my lip, my voice squeaking and higher than usual, "Uh…nice kick."

Eventually, Rich and Vic pull themselves together and resume positions. I narrow my eyes, gleaming with fierceness, and for a split second, I see Rich almost look afraid. Vic takes the kick off and I pull back, letting him reach Rachel.

My legs start to move, kicking and pounding the ground with force. Unfortunately for my friend, he doesn't see me running beside him effortlessly. I stick out my left leg, tripping him. He lands face first into the grass, getting a real taste of the dirt. I hesitate, surmising my work, and then set course for the goal.

With Vic currently digesting his grassy meal, I had time on my side. I propped a leg onto the ball, smugly winking at Rich. Then I pull my leg back, aiming for the right side of the goal. As I bring my foot down, it heads straight for the high corner of the goal.

Rich dives impulsively, realizing a moment to late that I never actually kicked it. As he's in mid-dive, I send it hurling straight at Rich. It hits dead on in the butt, throwing his landing off. The ball bounces a few times and rolls into the goal with ease.

I press the end of my tongue to my finger and push the finger against my bare arm, making a hissing sound. "Score one for Gar."

---

"Hey guys—er, girls," Gar chuckled, sliding in across from me and Kori. I saw around three hundred pairs of eyes turn and face our table, and my face began to heat up.

"Why are you sitting here?" I asked without thinking. I wanted to hit myself as soon as the words left my lips, for how rude they sounded. "I mean, we aren't exactly A-crowd."

He smiled with his eyes and mouth. "Ah, but we're all good students here, aren't we?"

What was he getting at?

"And three's a crowd…so therefore, we're our own A-crowd."

Kori giggled as I just blinked on. That had to be the corniest line I had ever heard. "You didn't actually just say that, did you?"

He shrugged, dumping out the contents of a brown paper bag onto the tray.

"That was so sweet, I just might puke," a voice said from behind us. "In fact, I got a bucket if anyone wants it."

"Hi Jen," I murmur, knowing automatically who it was.

Gar grabbed a few of the items in his bag and shoved a few at us, "And…viola!"

Kori takes one and examines it closely. "What is it?"

"It's a fortune cookie. Made 'em myself for home Ec. These are the leftovers."

He hands one out to me. "Take it," He coaxes. I do so, and for a moment, our hands brush. He just winks as my face turns another shade of cherry.

Kori opened hers and blinked as she tried to decipher the fortune. I heard a crackling sound, signaling Jen had also opened hers. The sound was immediately followed by her laughter. "Gar, these are great! Where'd you get the fortunes?"

"Found them on some website."

"Listen to mine… 'You will meet the love of your life tomorrow…with their gay lover.'"

I had to admit, that was pretty funny. I cracked mine open and watch out of the corner of my eye as Gar began to blush slightly. I peer down at the scrawled handwriting and feel the heat rising quickly to my face again.

_'There's so much I could put in this fortune…I could pick a million cheesy and cliché things to write, things to (hopefully) make you laugh, to make you smile, but instead, I just want to let you know that you mean more to me than you think. Meet me outside drama after school today?'_

Before I could do or say anything, Kori let out a sound from her throat that she only made when deep in thought. "I do not understand…my grandmother will see me on cops? My grandmother does not live on this country, and why would she see me on…this armed police man?"

Gar blushed again and grabbed the fortune from her, stuffing it into his pocket.

"Eh heh…never mind…" He ran a hand through his hair as he chuckled. Desperately wanting to change the subject, he fiddled with his bedraggled hair. "How do you think I'd look with green hair?"

He was ignored, Jen reaching for the fortune I still held in my hands. "What's your say, Rachel?"

I stared at it for a moment before crumpling it into a wad. "Confucius says it's none of your business."

Gar looked to me expectantly, a little downtrodden looking already from me crumpling up the paper. I nod, giving a faint smile.

---

I am such a dork.

Hmm…I wonder how many seconds it would take to suffocate myself?

She didn't reject the fortune immediately, though, so that's a good sign. I can't think of a more cheesy way to talk to her…I don't really know what I was thinking when I made that fortune, but then again, wasn't the saying that you do strange things when you're in love?

Am I in love? I mean, love can only be a word. Love is what you want it to be, where you decide the meaning. I thought I loved Tara for a while, and I never learned if she loved me back, and look how that turned out. And this could be even worse, with our family history…

What would my father think? What would my mother think?

What would Rachel's father think?

I don't know what it is, but I really can't help myself when it comes to her, lately. At first, I thought it was mere infatuation. But recently…it's like a new type of feeling. When I'm around her, I'm all smiles, like she completes me. I'm the Yang, and she's the Yin.

Ugh, I really need to go find another hangout spot other than at the Chinese restaurant.

And here I am, twiddling my thumbs as I wait for her to come out of the drama room. She, as Juliet, had to stay behind to practice some scenes I didn't particularly want to stick around for.

The door opens and she steps out, the sun immediately hitting her in the face. She squints and looks around. Spotting me, she comes over hesitantly. _Hesitantly_, I think. As in she doesn't want to.

"Hi…Gar."

My eyes instantly light up. "Yeah…I mean, hi. Er, no, wait…just, hi."

She blinks at me, confusion written all over her face. …Smooth one, Gar.

"Listen…I know it's kind of a bad idea, but Wicked Scary II just came out and—"

---

My heart is racing. He couldn't be…he wouldn't…

I mean all the damage it would cause. Us, being together…

No, no, that isn't it. I'm just being full of my self. If he did, though, what would I say? Would I say yes, or no? I can't deny the feelings I have for him, but…

"Rachel?"

We both turn to see a tall boy with pale blond hair and blue eyes striding towards us, eyes almost possessive.

Every thought in my mind disappears and is replaced with two words:

Oh and _crap_.

* * *

**Sorry 'bout the cliffie, dearies. But omg, 245+ reviews!**

**And Sarah goes wild, along with the invisible crowd inside her head! Woooot!**

**Since I'm so evil this week, I still won't explain about the Michael thing. A lot of you got it right--and where pretty mad. Someone, I forget who (Sorry, my memory is a bitch!), thought it might be Jericho, whose father is like a buisness worker for Trigon or something...Which is a really good idea. I just wish I had thought of it; it would probably be way less cliche. Oh well!**

**Review, or I will "forget" to update soon!**


	11. Dinner and a Movie

**Disclaimer: Um. I own a few objects in my room, but when my parents get angry, apparently they aren't mine anymore. So in short, I don't own TT.**

**Sorry for the wait--school is such a bitch. This chapter is mostly dialogue, but it's cute. We get a smaller explanation with Michael, but don't worry, you haven't seen the last of him. The drama is just getting started. **

**By the way: I've got story ideas. Tell me what you think:**

**The first is another AU, in which Gar is a single actor whose manager(Vic)insists he needs to work on his publicity. Forced onto a dating-type show, Gar must pick one girl to date. The problem, he's falling for the director! BBRae. **

**That summary is a crappy one, inspired during that Flavor of Love show. xDD**

* * *

"M-Michael," Rachel stammers. I frown. I'm the only one who should make Rachel stutter!

He runs his eyes over me skeptically and turns to Rachel. "Was I interrupting something?" He smiles.

My arms are itching to sock him in the jaw and whip that smug grin off his face. As Jen would say: 'I'm gonna bitch slap you all the way back to Chinatown!' _Yes_, you _were_ interrupting something!

"Yes," I hiss. Rachel whimpers and closes her eyes.

"Who are you?" He asks.

"Gar Logan," I say.

His eyes widen in momentary shock. "Logan? Well, then Rachel, I believe we should get going."

"Going?" She finally looks up.

"Percy couldn't get you today, so I volunteered. I'll bring the car around." With that he left and wandered towards the parking lot.

I'm at a loss for words. Was it her boyfriend? "Rachel, who was that?"

"A family friend," she mutters.

---

What am I supposed to tell him? Gar, listen, I know you were just about to ask me out and everything, but there's this guy my dad wants me to date, so I guess we can't go out.

"_Rachel dear, this is Michael."_

_Michael looked up at me and shot me a handsome smile. He's good looking, but he's no Gar. "Hello Michael," I replied._

"_Michael's father works for me, Rachel," my father said._

"_Congratulations," I mutter, already turning._

"_Rachel, I want you to get to know Michael a little better. He seems like a nice boy," my mother said, catching up with me._

_When hell freezes over! When pigs fly! When Jen doesn't go a day without swearing! _

And yet, here I am, trying to explain why I'm getting a ride from a boy I hardly know.

"Come with me," he whispers, taking my hand.

I stare down at our entwined fingers. "What?"

"Ditch him." Oh, god. Gar's being seductive again. His lips brush my ear and my heart flutters. "I promise I'll get you home on time."

Without waiting for my reply, Gar wraps his arms around my waist and leads me around the building. We both get into the Cadillac, though differently. Gar doesn't bother to open the door, where I look around every half second to make sure no one sees. Luckily, campus had long cleared off and Michael went in the other direction.

"Have you seen Wicked Scary I?" He asks after we've been driving a good ten minutes and I've stopped turning around to see if anyone's watching.

Have I seen Wicked Scary I? Uh huh, and I've got the nightmares to prove it. I hid under my pillow for days and refused to come out of my room at night. I never turned off the lights and never let down my guard. "I can't recall."

"Well, Wicked Scary II is supposed to be better, scarier, and creepier!"

Oh, goodie. Next you'll be telling me it's in 3D.

"And it's in 3D! How cool is that?"

Help me.

---

"You know Gar, that pony movie looked pretty good. Maybe we should see that one."

"Not getting out of this one, Ravie."

"Er—Gar, my name is Rachel."

"Ah, but remember when I caught you reading Poe in drama; 'The Raven'?"

"What's your point?"

I shrug. "The name Raven fits you."

"It's still not my name."

"Fine, _Rachel_," I laugh. "Two for Wicked Scary II, please."

The girl at the counter winks at me as she hands me the tickets. I see Rachel stiffen. Yes!

Ha, we're not even ten minutes into the movie and she's already clutching onto my arm. Vic had been right about taking her to a horror movie—I don't care how Gothic or Emo she can be, someone has to have their weaknesses.

That's right, my pretty. Hold on all you like. If we weren't in public, this would be the part where I get on my knees and let out a seriously maniacal laughter.

---

Something moved.

Gar just laughs, and says I'm being paranoid. Paranoid my ass! I swear, something did move. The movie was roughly three hours long, and it is winter, so it's already dark; just my luck.

Not that I'm afraid, or anything.

I bury myself into Gar's arm out of pure fear. I can't see his face, but I can feel the grin radiating off it. "Wipe that grin off your face," I snap.

"I love you," He laughs.

I almost freeze. Was it that kind of joking 'I love you', that you say sometimes when you think something's funny, or—nah, the first one, I'm sure. I've known him for what, two weeks?

"'Course you do," I whisper, relaxing as he wraps his arm around me. Oh, this is so wrong.

"Um, Gar, this isn't the direction to my house or your car," I mumble, half asleep as I lean against him.

"I know," he replies.

"That's it, I'm calling those nice men with the coats now."

"Ah, good times, good times. Those rooms were so soft!" he says. Gar, you're such an idiot. But what a lovable, extremely cute idiot…

"Close your eyes."

"Mind me asking why?"

"Yes. Now close them, missy."

"And…open!"

---

Rachel opens her eyes, her violet eyes immediately filling with surprise. Who says I can't be romantic?

Next time I see Kori and Jen, I will bow down and dub myself unworthy.

Both of them told me about Rachel's favorite colors, scents, and dishes. They came with me to the mall to buy the spread, the candles, and even showed me her favorite restaurant so it didn't look like I was shopping for girly things on my own.

They'd gone ahead of us and set up the picnic table with the lavender candles and table cloth, along with her favorite kind of herbal tea and our meal of salads and tofu sandwiches (Hey, I gotta eat too!).

"Gar…"

"Don't talk," I put a finger to her lips, "just eat."

"You did all this for me?"

"No, I did it for the tooth fairy. You just beat her to it."

"Shut up," she giggles, punching my arm. Whoa, whoa, rewind and freeze! Did Rachel Roth just _giggle_? She must _really_ have the hots for me.

She brings one leg over the bench, sitting across from me. She reaches for the kettle, but I beat her to it. I pour it for her, and she rolls her eyes. What, can't I be nice?

"Hungry?"

"I'd rather just sit and stare at all the food, thank you."

"Salad it is."

"How did you like P.E. today?"

"I'm gonna miss not being able to have kids, but the look on your face was worth it."

"Shut it before I dump this steaming tea on your head."

"We wouldn't want to attract a crowd, now would we?" I gesture towards other couples on the grass or having a moonlit picnic.

"You're awful."

"Am I?"

---

No, you're not. You're wonderful. Tara, eat your heart out!

"Yes. But don't worry; admitting your problem is the first step."

He doesn't say anything for a while; just leans on his hand and stares out at the nearly empty park. "I wish life was that simple."

I follow his gaze towards a young couple holding hands and kissing on a picnic blanket. He quickly turns his head away. "But then where would the adventure be?"

"There wouldn't be. People could be together freely and not have to worry about what others thought."

"We aren't talking about life anymore, are we?"

"Were we even to start with?"

He sighs. "I suppose not."

He pulls out a plastic tub and pulls off the top. I wrinkle my nose, "Why tofu?"

Gar grins. Even with a mouth full of food, it's still sexy, "Why not?"

"You're not getting all your basic food groups."

"It's just not the way I was raised."

"Fair enough," I give in.

"What did you think of the movie?"

"Sound and visual effects were nicely done, and the acting wasn't half bad."

"That scary?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You got up to refill the popcorn three times."

"What does that have anything to do with it?"

"We only ate half."

"Still doesn't prove anything."

Gar, we were having a nice conversation. Why'd you have to ruin it? "Do you think Michael will care?"

"No," I reply quickly. I let out a sigh, "Maybe."

"Will he tell your father?"

"Probably," I shake my head. And he probably will. Not only was it implied that I should date Michael, but that Michael would be his spy. He'd follow me around not during school hours and report back to my father. This meant there was a pretty good chance he'd find out.

"Then let's enjoy it while we can," he said, leaning in across the table. I put a hand at his chest, sending him back into his seat.

"Gar…"

He just shakes his head. "No, I understand."

I feel the reasoning for that cheesy pickup line 'Did it hurt when you fell down from heaven?' coming on.

---

So she rejected my kiss. That's okay, because I know I saw a hint of lust as I started to lean in.

But damn, it's driving me crazy! I just want to wrap her up and kiss her until there's no breath left in either of us. "Guess what I found out?"

She looks up from her salad. "Kori's a romantic. Listen to any song she picked," I pull out a radio and press the play button.

_Was it you who spoke the words that things would happen but not to me  
Oh things are gonna happen naturally  
Oh taking your advice I'm looking on the bright side  
And balancing the whole thing  
But often times those words get tangled up in lines  
And the bright lights turn to night  
Until the dawn it brings  
Another day to sing about the magic that was you and me_

"Didn't we ice skate to that song?"

"I think so. But I'm pretty sure it was me doing most of the skating. Wanna dance?"

"Um…" She can't resist the pout! "Sure."

I get up from my seat, take her hand, and lead her a few feet away from the table.

---

"This is awkward," I mutter.

"Is it?"

_Not anymore_, I think. I lean my head against his chest (I'd been doing a lot of that lately) and listen to his heartbeat. That's never going to get old.

Another song was playing now, but I wasn't listening to that. Gar's heart was all the music I needed.

"I don't want to sound like a predator or a sex-crazed kid, but…?"

I stand on my tip toes and give him a graze on the lips. "That's all you'll get," I murmur before sinking back into his chest.

* * *

**Awww, the fluff.**

**They don't get a makeout scene for a few chapters, unfortunately. They're both such teases. :)**

**Did anyone catch Spirited Away on CN? I'm applauding the new peeps on CN for that, and that only. -kills them for killing TT-**

**Anyway...review!**

**Sorry again for the wait.**


	12. Aftermath

**Short chapter, just leading up to events.**

**I'm so dead to the world right now, and I'm in a state of depression that I'm considering just killing everyone in the story. You fans are all fortunate that your many reviews keep me from doing just that. Sorry for the wait, and sorry for the crappiness.**

**Disclaimer: Don't start with me.**

* * *

I yawned, and stretched my legs out. Wow, my bed really needs to get these lumps out of—

Shit.

I jerk upwards, shaking the sleep away. Um…unless my room has undergone a new décor, with a park theme, I am officially screwed.

Rachel stirs next to me, draping her arm over me. "Mm…" she mumbles, "…Gar…"

Her eyes fly open, realization hitting, "Gar!"

I bite my lip and run a hand through my hair. How did this happen?

"_That's all you'll get," Rachel murmured. She gave a small yawn and nearly collapsed on me. _

"_Let's lie you down for a few minutes against this tree," I whispered, sensing how tired she was. I laid her against the bark, but she grabbed my arm as I went to clean up the picnic food. I was pulled down and she snuggled into me._

_I try to protest, but she's already almost asleep. Suddenly, my eyes start to feel sort of heavy…Man, tofu does do one in…_

"What time is it?"

I check my watch and groan, "Nine o'clock, roughly."

She took a deep breath. "Well, we can safely say we didn't…" She looked up at me. "…Unless…"

I give a slight laugh. "No, we didn't. We just fell asleep."

"I'm going to be in so much trouble."

"I'm a dead man. So when my rotting carcass show up on your doorstep next week, don't be too alarmed."

"Mm, that's lovely."

"Almost as lovely as Wicked Scary II," I chime.

"Don't remind me."

"What now?"

"We go to school," she sighs.

"And what do we say? Hey teach, listen, sorry I'm late, but you're never going to believe this! I fell asleep with a girl under a tree! How funny is that?"

"I…don't know. But I need to get to school. If I miss this rehearsal, Kaywood promised me no one would find my remains."

"Then we should probably get going."

"_Probably_," she replied. Was that sarcasm?

---

"And so, my dear comrades, remember to never leave a grimthak alone, and never feed it after dark!" Kori exclaimed, giggling madly at her own joke.

"…Thank you, Kori. Who wants to go next?"

I had long tuned Kori and the teacher. "…Rachel?"

Looking up from the sketch, I gave a slight yawn. "Yes?"

The class gave collective chuckles. "Would you like to share?"

My face grew hot. Er, not really. Instead I mumble, "S-sure."

I pulled out a crinkled piece of paper and held it in front of me, "_Once upon a time, _

_Falling in love was not a crime._

_There was a happily ever after  
__The only sounds coming from the lovers, giggles and laughter._

_There were dragons and knights  
__And men parading around in tights._

_And damsels in distress  
__Their clothes made of the finest silks to dress._

_And wise kings and beautiful queens  
__A giant, perhaps, or magic beans._

_A cry would sound  
__And the handsome knight would come round._

_They would meet and fall in love  
__Their hearts as pure as the dove._

_But this is not Once Upon a Time  
__Such is the point of this rhyme._

_Our world is not filled with magnificent steeds or noble deeds  
__Instead is our pain, in which we bleed._

_Here, it is not dragons we slay,  
__To our own we betray._

_Here, family is not always a blessing but a curse,  
__Legacy in reverse."_

My eyes instantly diverted to Kori, who was smiling somewhat sadly. "Erm…very, poetic, Rachel."

I mutter a thank you and take my seat next to my auburn-haired friend. "Where were you this morning? I did not see you in homeroom."

"…Sleeping…"

She looks taken back. "Sleeping?"

"Well, it wasn't intentional."

"You do not require sleep?"

"No—I mean yes, no wait, I mean no—"

---

"Playing hokey again, are we Logan?"

"No!" I shout, a little too quickly. "I slept in."

"Uh huh," Rich murmured.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Wally coughed and leaned in across the table. "Kathryn said she saw you and Rachel sleeping under a tree when she passed the park this morning."

I give a high-pitched, nervous laugh. "A-and y-you believed her?"

"We didn't at first," Vic cocked an eyebrow, "but I'm starting to change my mind."

At that moment, Kathryn plopped down and twirled a strand of blond hair at Gar. Normally, she went after Rich, but since Gar was technically free game and she just loved getting on Tara's nerve, she decided she'd flirt with him. "Hi guys!" She giggled.

"Kathryn," the four answered in unison.

"So whatcha talking about? Don't say me!"

"That's good, I don't like to lie," Rich mumbled, Vic instantly jabbing him in the gut.

She leaned a head on Gar's shoulder. "Were you and Roth comfortable this morning?" She grinned, Gar giving a strong gulp.

"No," he gathered his cool, "because nothing went on."

"Not from where I'm standing."

"Then your view was blocked."

"Hey Kathryn," a voice said from behind them, "lay off." Vic and Rich's eyes widened, being able to see behind Gar.

Gar recognized the voice instantly, "T-Tara."

---

"Rachel—you're not focusing! From the top," Ms. Kaywood boomed, rubbing her temples. "No, no, wait. Take five, guys. I have an announcement!" She stood at center stage and waved her arms around wildly until all attention was on her.

"I've got good news and bad news. I'm sure you already know the good news; basketball team made the championship!"

Two people shared a high five, and a few let out low whistles.

"The bad news; championship is—was the night of the play. Which means…we're going to have to forward the date. We have two and a half weeks left."

Groans gathered. She held up a hand, "I know, I know, but that's the best I could get. The school wouldn't let me use the stage any other night."

I stole a glance at Gar, who was fiddling his thumbs and looking like he'd been picked up and dropped in some other millennia. I caught his gaze and smiled at him. The smile disappeared. He looked awful.

With Ms. Kaywood giving Wally some lecture, I strode over to him and took the seat over. "Are you okay?"

He brightened—a little too quickly, "Of course!"

Something didn't feel right, but I brushed it off. "So, um, do you want to—" I trailed off, seeing his expression drop. "Well, no, never mind."

"No! I would, really, but…"

My voice caught in my throat, "But?"

"But, don't you think it's…wrong? I mean, what if—"

"We won't do anything we regret," I assure him. Wow, how the tables have turned.

"How can you promise that? I don't care if they disown me, but…it's complicated."

"Explain."

"It's like this: I've always wanted to be like my dad. I wanted to be the model son," she raised her eyebrows, "In his eyes, I am."

I laugh; so does she. "I just don't want him to be disappointed in me."

She looks confused. "You don't care if he renounces you, but if he's disappointed in you, it's a whole other story?"

"Yes," I sigh, "if he kicked me out, he'd be mad. But to have him be disappointed…that's way worse."

She leaned back; signaling she understood somewhat. In reality, although if my dad found out, it would mean World War III, I…I cared for her more. "Let's do something tonight."

"Are you sure?"

No—no, I'm not sure. "No, I'm not. But you don't think straight when you're in love," I mumble, "Time is ticking by, and we we're not getting any younger."

---

"Run that by me again?"

He laughs nervously and changes the subject completely, "How about mini golf?"

"Gar…"

"We could ask the others to come along, so we don't have to worry about falling asleep."

"Fine, but—"

He scrambled over me, flagging down Wally. He had only mumbled it, but…no, I heard wrong. Better not to assume.

Gar jogged over, Wally in tow. "Wally'll come."

From the other side of the room, I see Jen's pale hand rise as she reads over her lines, yelling, "I'll come too—whatever you're talking 'bout."

"Let's keep it just us," Wally cuts in. "I'm sick of Rich and Kori's googly eyes, and Vic keeps trying to make a play for my woman."

Gar snorts and nearly doubles over in laughter. Through giggles, he manages: "Your woman?"

Wally crinkles his nose. "I haven't yet reached that point, but don't doubt my charms."

Under his breath, I hear, "I can think of a few girls who beg to differ."

"It's settled then?"

Gar smiles through his eyes, "It is."

* * *

**Lame and just...ugh.**

**News in my life: Depression, as I said before. New sketchpad; drawing up a storm. Doing my best not to fail everything--bleh. I saw Inside Man tonight. It was amazing!**

**I highly recommend it if you can see R movies and don't mind a bit of gore and language.**

**I normally don't use threats, but the more reviews I get, the less likely I am to kill everyone. **


	13. Drama Ensues

**Hi guys. Back and more depressed than ever. So I had to kill someone. So I did.**

**I found out a guy I liked for years is also liked my best friend, and she obviously expects me to let her take him. And with my big self esteem issues, I guess I'll let her. -sighs-**

**Anyway, I'm sorry for the delay, but life has been hard lately. I don't necessarily like this chapter, I wrote it during my angst periods. WARNING: Character death and a slew of bad language. I might up the rating.**

**Disclaimer: ...not now.**

**Meh. I better go write FOTW now.**

* * *

Wally's frowning at the sky. "Looks like rain," He mutters, crossing his arms and slumping in the back of the Cadillac.

Sighing, I obliged his request and got out of the car, pulling up the top. "I don't get what your deal is, dude. I love the rain."

His chin dropped, completely forgetting the fact that Jen and Rachel were seated in the back. "What kind of man are you? We men don't like that sentimental crap!"

Jen tugged her mouth to one side of her face, placing her hands firmly on her waist. "What was that?"

I steal a grin back in Rachel's direction before starting up the engine. Now, I'm not clairvoyant, but if there was thing I could tell about today was that Fate was playing poker with my life and just set down a full house.

The golf course was relatively empty; Wally's prediction had been proved right when it started to drizzle. It was mini-golf, so the options of ball color were wide. I chose green, Rachel purple, Jen pink, and Wally yellow.

My tongue subconsciously slipped out over my lower lip as I positioned myself on the green, swinging my club on count. I tapped the ball, and it rolled around the edge of the cup and to the opposite side of the turf. Wally slapped his forehead.

"Gar, come on! That's the fifth time you've screwed this up! Just accept that you're not good at golf."

"I'll get it this time, I swear!" I growl, once again shaking my butt a little as I lean down to bring the club on the ball. You'd think I'd be good at golf, since it was about aim the same way soccer was (sort of), but apparently _not_.

"I give up!" I throw my hands in the air, not bothering to pick up the fallen club or green ball that seemed to be mocking me.

I'm beginning to think that poker hand was just as real as a poker face.

---

It's so hard not to laugh at Gar. Two reasons, really. One is that he is making a complete fool of himself trying to get the 'goddamned mother fucking ball in that fucking cup' (his words and I quote). The other reason, and I'm angry with myself for it, is that he looks…well, adorable. And he's trying, at least, so I need to give him some credit.

"Gar, the next course is this way!" Jen laughs.

"I'm getting something to eat!" He still sounded agitated, so by a quick vote, we decided to follow.

It took only a minutes search to locate Gar. We found him by the ice cream stand next to the supply shop, buying a mint cone from a boy behind the counter, a nametag reading 'Ben'.

Wally and Jen chose to buy their own ice creams, where I just sit down, feeling the vibrating of my cell phone, signaling I had a text message.

'_I know.' _

I check the number, and my eyes close with dread. Something is going to happen—something bad.

Gar's phone rings, and my heart speeds up. Why, I can't explain. Jen is the only one who seems to notice my shallow breathing.

He gives a faint smile before walking off to answer the call. I turn back to Jen, making small talk as I crane my ears to hear the conversation.

"Yes…this is Garfield Logan…Tara Markov? Yes, I knew her…What? Oh…god…" The ice cream cone and phone drop to the ground. He turned, eyes brimming with tears. "She's dead."

Alarm pours in. "Who, Gar? Who's dead?"

"T-Tara," he stammers. I can't help but feel a pang of jealousy as he utters her name. "H-her…bloodied corpse was found in an alley about fifteen minutes from school. She had a bullet lodged into her…her head."

Jen's hand flies to her mouth, and Wally's breathe catches in his throat. Me? I fight to do the meanest, rudest thing possible. I fight a smile. I'd recognize his style anywhere.

"I…I think I'm gonna be sick," Wally groans, heading for the bathroom. Forever Jen, her dark eyes roll.

I'm not listening to whatever her excuse is, because guilt is hitting. Oh my god…

A person is dead. And it's my fault.

---

"Rachel…please stay."

"Gar…"

I take her hand, gripping it tightly. This feeling—it's all too familiar. I've felt it before; I fall in love easily. I won't deny it. Too innocent, Wally tells me. I let everyone in, and I get hurt. Is it wrong, to feel this way? The last time…my heart tears a little to think about it.

But Tara…she never stopped being my friend. How could she be gone? Someone's life cut that short. It was as though…as though she had known she was to die.

"_T-Tara…"_

"_Gar, can we talk?"_

_My eyes dart around nervously, searching one of the guys for help. Request denied. "O-Okay…"_

_She took a deep breath, peeking around the corner to make sure no one is listening. "Gar, I know that I'm not with you anymore, but I just want to tell you that I love you. You were the best friend I ever had," she gives a nervous laugh, "And not in a relationship-love way, a friend-love way, okay?" Her eyes flickered in a way that made it hard to distinguish what was the truth and was not._

"_What are you talking about, Tara?" _

"_I just want to tell you I know about you and Rachel."_

"_How—"_

"_I have my ways." Her voice lowered, "Be careful. You're treading through dangerous waters, Gar. You better know what you're doing going into a relationship with her. And…don't take life for granted, okay?"_

"_You're kind of scaring me, Tara…"_

"_You and Rachel are good for each other. Don't let her slip away like the way I let you."_

How? How had she known?

'Don't let her slip away like the way I let you.'…What does it all mean? Ugh, my brain hurts…

So much for that poker hand.

---

Damn it, Gar. Why do you have this power over me? Maybe it's the guilt in knowing more than I tell, or maybe it's something entirely different. Right now, all I know is that I need to stay with him. "…Okay."

Just to see the smile, however small, on his face is worth sitting in the rain. For minutes, hours, I've lost track, we just sit there, staring out at the city. I would've never known the golf course, a mini golf course at that would have such a view. I don't show it, but it's…breathtaking, in a word.

He hasn't let go of my hand, I don't think he dares to. Inching closer, I can see his breath in the cold air. Leaning in…oh god…stop this…One person is already dead because of it…it needs to stop…

My mind is a NASCAR race, cars whirring and zipping through the turns. Hmm, and the race track is built on a fault line too, it seems, for it's shaky and uncontrolled. It's hard to explain these feelings.

I've hated Gar for a good portion of my life, without really knowing him. Then, all of a sudden, he's always on my mind, he's always there. I've began to notice smaller things about him. Like the way his eyes light up when he's happy, the different smiles he has, the way he puts up bad humor as a defense mechanism.

Our noses touch, slowly our lips closing the gap of space between…

"Rachel!"

Whoever invented that saying 'Be careful what you wish for' really had something there.

* * *

**Short chapter. Bad chapter. I'm sorry for the crappiness.**

**So the drama begins to unfold. This is Romeo and Juliet; some people have to die. And a lot of people will be glad it's Tara, but I didn't choose her because so many hate her. It's for more reasosn we'll see. You didn't think it could be sunshine ponies the whole time, did you?**

**Review!**


	14. They Might Know More Than We Think

**Okay, I got a few angry people, a few understand people, and a few...happy people. Weird. Anyway, you may know by now that we have _not_ seen the last of Tara. **

**...Sorry, Tara-haters. **

**By the way, I am feeling a little better in the mind; it brightens my day to find out you care. -love- **

**I'm not particularly fond with this chapter, but my writing has been awful lately. Eh. I am straying away from the Shakespeare story a bit in this chapter, but don't worry, everything that I write I write for a reason. It all comes into play. **

**Omg, I'm having fun with this drama now. No fluff; not till the next chapter or the chapter after.**

**Enter Slade, stage right.**

* * *

"Yoo-hoo, Rachel!"

I don't bother turning my head, whispering out a, "Hey Jen." Thanks, thanks a lot. Well that killed the moment.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Rachel blink in confusion a few times before hiding behind a solemn mask. "Jennifer," she says coolly.

Jen's shoulders stiffen at the comment. She takes a nervous breath before throwing a cell phone in Rachel's direction. "You left your phone by the tables; I heard it ringing. I think it was your father."

She nods, taking the phone and standing up. "I should be going."

…_Bye?_

That's it? No nervous blush or lame excuse? Didn't I used to have some sort of power of her? I thought kissing her made her brain fogged.

I look to Jen, but she had already gone.

Sighing, I walk towards the car in the middle of the empty parking lot. Didn't anyone want a ride home? Or…did I do something that somehow offended everyone without me knowing?

"I'm…home…" My voice trails off as my mother runs past me, a suitcase in her hand. My dad runs down the stairs, also clutching a bag. "Are we going somewhere?"

"Yeah, son, we are."

"Great…so no one decided to tell me?" I say, crossing my arms.

"Sorry; last minute kind of thing," Dad laughs before his face turning serious. "Your grandma got another attack."

"How long will you be gone?"

"_We_ will be gone about two weeks," he replies, emphasizing on the word 'we'.

"What?" My jaw drops. "I'm old enough to stay on my own!"

At that moment, my mother happens to be passing and pauses, looking me dead in the eye. "Remember what happened last time we left?"

"Those test results proved I wasn't the father! I never even had se—"

"It doesn't matter, Gar! You're coming; we don't have a choice."

"What about school? I have a play, you know!"

My father laughs again. "I never thought I'd hear that. And you hate acting anyway, I'm sure your teachers will understand."

My mother however, didn't laugh along. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "You have a girlfriend, don't you?"

"No!" I reply nervously, and too quickly. "Not since Tara."

"Such a nice girl," Dad muses. Mom and I exchange glances.

"Still," I roll my eyes, "I have a big part in that play. I can't just _leave_."

"Garfield Mark Logan," I wince; my full name means trouble—especially from my mother, "you are coming, and that's final. We wish we could trust you enough alone."

"I swear, I never smoked any of the—"

"…Garfield…"

"…I'll go pack."

---

I sigh as I slide the books into my locker, not noticing Victor standing next to me. To not notice someone as big as him is a sure sign my mind is elsewhere.

"Hey Rachel," he greets.

"Hello Vic," I reply, much less cheery.

"Have you seen Gar? I called him last night and no one picked up; cell phone and home."

Gar was the last thing I wanted to talk about right now. "No."

"Oh… Well, if you see him, will you let him know I'm looking for the dude?"

"Okay."

He leans against the locker next to mine, eyes studying me. "…Are you okay?"

Do I look okay? I got no sleep last night. Of course I'm not okay. "Yes."

"Then what's up with the minimal syllable responses?"

"I'm on my period; I get agitated easily." There, that usually scares them off.

"Liar," he smiles, "You showed signs of menstruation two weeks, and I'm sure you're regular by now."

"How do you know that?"

"I've been considering being a doctor. Either that or a mechanic. What do you think?" Victor says, jogging to keep up with my pace.

"Mechanic," I dart around a corner, leaving him waving a hand at me in defeat as he walked off in the other direction.

---

"Garfield! Garfield, where's my water?"

"Coming, Grandma…" I sigh, filling up the glass from the tap.

She takes the drink, spitting out the next minute. "This is tap, Garfield! I drink the water from the refrigerator only! Do you want me to die early?"

I'm not going to answer that. I pass my dad, sitting at my grandmother's kitchen table reading the paper. He chuckles at me.

I stick my tongue out. Yes, I'm that mature sometimes.

"Marie! Marie, where's that lousy husband of yours with my paper?"

As I smirk, I hear the vibrating of my cell phone.

---

I used to love school; it meant I didn't have to be at home. Today was hell for me, though, as I was ridden with guilt. And so when the bell rang that signaled the end of the school day, I was the first one out of the door of the drama room. Most of the class followed in suit; no one wanted to face Ms. Kaywood today, she had been especially grumpy after checking her voicemail.

Whatever she had heard, she wasn't happy about it. I eye a dark skinned boy carrying around a trumpet case, his blue hood drawn over his face. "Hey," I call.

He looks up, watching me curiously as I approach. Funny, before I had met Gar, I would've never started talking to someone like this. "Why did Ms. Kaywood call you over?"

He sighs, holding up a script to our play. "I was Gar's understudy. I'm Mertucio now."

"…But Gar was only absent for today. Why would you step up because of that?"

"Apparently, he's left."

Were I anyone else, I would've shrugged it off. But no, not in my case; I panicked, "L-Left? Do they know where he is?" I choked.

The kid looked at me strangely. "Well yeah. He's in Palm Desert, I think. Something about a sick relative, was it?"

I catch my breath, nodding him off as he gives me a final strange look.

I spot the black Mercedes in the back of the parking lot; I had declined a ride earlier this morning. Before I make it half way across the parking lot, a blond head of hair catches my eye.

Hair that blonde, baby-blues that icy, a frame that skinny… How is that possible? "Tara, Tara wait!"

She turns, but the smile falters on her face as she realizes it's me calling her. "R-Rachel… Oh, h-hi..."

"What are you doing…here?"

She looks around, clutching her books nervously. "I was just going home. I'm waiting for my friend—"

"No, what are you doing," my voice lowers, "_alive_?"

Her jaw clenches and her neck straightens. "I um… What?"

"Tara, what do you know?"

"Know what? I-I don't know what you're talking about, Rachel."

"I don't believe that," My eyes narrow.

She doesn't say anything for a few minutes, for tears are welling in her eyes. "Whatever you find out," she says with her head bowed, "know I'm sorry—so sorry."

She looks up, a miniature river of tears running down her left cheek. "Will you tell that to him?"

Before I can say anything, a black sports car pulls up. One of the tinted windows rolls down to reveal a man with hair too fair for his age, a lone eye patch on one eye. "Tara, get in."

Something is familiar about this man…something too familiar. Where had I seen him before?

Tara gives me one last look before getting into the car, leaving me with a curiosity that will probably get me in trouble.

---

"Talk to me," I say into the phone cheerily.

The reply was not half as welcoming, "Man, _where_ _the hell are you_?"

"Good to talk to you too, Vic."

"Do you have any idea what the rumors are going on about you?"

"Huh?"

Vic sighs into the phone; I can practically see him rolling his eyes. "There are rumors going around that you were expelled! Ms. Kaywood reassigned your part!"

"Relax dude," I laugh, "I wasn't expelled. My grandma had another heart attack."

A sound crackles through the phone line, signaling he understood. No more explanation was needed. "How long this time?"

"About two weeks; I'll be back in time for the play. Who got my role?"

"Uh… Mal Duncan, I think."

"He doesn't even look like a Mertucio!" Okay, so I was jealous. Sue me.

Vic snorted on the other line. "You wouldn't know; he always hides underneath that sweatshirt hood."

"Hey, remember when Rachel did that? When we were in middle school?"

He pauses. "Why does everything turn into a conversation about Rachel with you?"

"It does not!"

"Uh huh, s-ure lover boy," he laughs.

"Yeah, shut up."

"Why don't you make me, you little grass—"

Check mate.

---

"Rachel dear, would you come down here for a minute?"

"One minute, mother," I sigh, strolling casually down the long, rather lonely, hallways. Wait…what was that?

I take a few steps back, staring at a picture of my father and a man with white hair—the man from the car!

And then it hit me: my father knew about Gar.

* * *

**Not much Rachel in the final POV switch, but it's short for a reason. And does he? What is happening? Review, and I'll post the next chapter sooner. **

**And the grandmother is based after my own Palm-Desert-golf-playing-still-thinks-she's-fifty grandmother. Oy, how I dislike her. Anyway, review!**


	15. The Balcony

**Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but I had nothing I wanted to add. This will probably confuse you, btw. **

**Um...sorry. **

**Disclaimer: blah blah blah, up yours, whoever makes us do this. (if you think I own TT--you've got issues)**

* * *

"…And then the green dog said, 'Because I was having too much fun!'" I broke into giggles across the phone. Victor paused before replying, letting the words sink in.

"You know Gar, you'd make a good comedian," he said slowly.

I smiled as the airport terminal grew into view. "Thanks dude," I said, "it means a lot to me."

"Well I mean, it's not because you make people laugh, because you make yourself laugh. So then people laugh at you laughing at yourself," Victor replied cheerily.

"Thanks dude," I spat, "it means a lot to me."

"No prob!" He chuckled. "So when you coming home?"

"We're on the way home, thank god," I laughed into the receiver as he whispered, giving my grandmother, who was sitting in the front seat, yelling at my father to turn at the next exit (probably criticizing his driving, too) , a look and shuddering.

Victor's voice suddenly dropped. "Good, because…" he trailed off, searching for the words. "Things have _changed_, since you've been gone."

"Changed? Like…dude, what do you mean?" I squeaked. The reception must've been off, because all I heard was static across the line. I held the phone away from my ear, mumbling his name a few times. I had a bad feeling about his tone, but I pushed it away as the car screeched to a halt.

---

"Places everyone, places!" I cringed at the shrillness in Ms. Kaywood's voice; shrill and commanding—she was as aggravated and frustrated as we were. With Gar's mysterious leave, his understudy was not completely prepared. Thus, much more practice was necessary. This meant that our sleep hours had been deducted by great measures, which also meant we were tired. Add homework and just regular life, and you've got a bunch of pissed off teenagers.

She screamed Mal's name a few times as he messed up another line. He muttered an excuse, "I'm a musician, not a frickin' actor! Get off my case!"

Another display of yelling filled the gymnasium as I slunk lower in my seat, giving Jen a look. She mirrored Ms. Kaywood and open and closed her hand in the rhythm she yelled. I almost giggled. But then I remembered I hadn't giggled in a few weeks. Not since Gar left, anyway.

When the bell rang, Mal and I were the first ones out. I stole a glance at him, as close to sympathy as my features would let me. He didn't return the gracious act of kindness, however, just frowned and stormed off in another direction. It was then, in that moment, that I saw him.

He was just as handsome as ever; rugged and tired looking, but still gorgeous. His eyes lit up ten fold as he saw me, running with a speed I didn't know he had in him. One word: **fuck**.

"Rae! Rachel!" He yells, enveloping me in a hug. "God, it's so great to see you. I missed you!" He leaned in for a kiss, but the guilt pushed him away. I pulled myself from his arms, looking at my feet.

"I uh…nice seeing you, bye…" I mumble, heading towards the car parking lot. I refuse to cry; tears only brought more pain. Push him away, let him think you hate him, and he'll leave. Just like all the others; he's no different. …Right?

"Wait, Rae! What's wrong?" I take a long breath, refusing to look him in the eye.

"N-Nothing's wrong, I just need to get going; that's all," I said coldly. I winced at the harshness in my voice. I hadn't talked like that since…since I met Gar.

"O-Oh, okay. Well, I was thinking maybe tomorrow we could—"

"Sorry Gar, I'm busy." I kept walking.

"Um… Well, how about Wednesday?"

"Full up," I reply shortly, rattling with the keys for the car door.

"T-That's cool… I'm free this weekend, so—"

"Look, Gar," I sigh, turning to face him. "It's been great and all, but…I just don't think we should see each other anymore, okay?"

"B-But…did I do something wrong?" He squeaks. Poor boy; he looks so crestfallen. Please, stop…I'm doing this for you.

"No," I say as I shut the car door. I pull out of the parking lot, not looking back. But as I check my rear view mirror, I see Gar standing in the middle of the parking lot. He falls to his knees.

---

What…why? Thoughts are racing through my head right now, and I'm so confused that not even Plato could make sense of my mind. A shadow appears over my head and I hear a, "Man, you okay?"

I'm far from okay. "She…broke up with me."

Victor sighs and offers me a hand up. His head is turned, but I can tell he wants to tell me something. Whatever it was, he decides against it and smiles. "I know a way you can win her back."

My heart leaps with hope at that moment; I may still have a chance!

We stop at my car and Vic continues, "You're aware tonight's the drama performance, right?"

"…Yes…"

"Then here's what you do…"

---

"Are you excited, my dear?" Michael murmurs, softly stroking my hair.

"Ecstatic," I reply sarcastically. I try to pull away, but his grip is firm. He brings me into him again, hoping for another kiss. His kisses are nothing like Gar's though—his are sloppy and make me want to hurl. Gar's…Gar's are passionate, beautiful, and I always felt a spark no matter how short the kiss.

"I need to go, Michael. I'll see you at the play." I tug harder this time, forcing him to let go. He rolls his eyes and gets off the bed, much to my pleasure.

Hours later, I found myself staring at my reflection in the mirror as Jen brushes my hair. "Did I do the right thing Jen?" I ask, watching the mirrored me's lips mimicking my every word. She's me, but she's angry. She doesn't like who sees in the reflection; she's resentful.

"Did you do what your heart said?" She asked in reply.

"…I don't know…"

"You decide, then," she mutters, walking away.

Breathe Rachel, breathe. In and out, steady and thorough. You've practiced a hundred times before, you know this. From behind the velvety red curtains, I hear Ms. Kaywood greeting the audience.

"And so, without further adieu, I give you Jump High School's Romeo and Juliet!"

The crowd roared with cheers and applause and the first scene began to play.

As I perform my first scene, my eyes scan the crowds. A nervous Victor, a pleasant father, a bored Michael, and Kori and Rich sitting very close and looking very comfortable, but I see no Gar. I'm not disappointed…am I?

---

"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" I wince at those words, fiddling with my fingers. I eye the ladder leading up to Rachel's balcony, all the while still listening. "Deny thy father and refuse thy name;"

My heart races as I stumble towards the ladder. I watch my hands slowly grab the handles and bring my body on it. My mind is telling me to stop, but my heart is telling me otherwise.

"Or, if thou wilt not, be but my sworn love," I hear Rachel saying from above me. But she won't be above me for long; I'm almost at the top. I step through the scene entrance, ducking so I don't hit my head.

She doesn't see me enter, but the audience sure did. They let out a collective gasp. Rachel turned to see me standing right behind her, cupping her face with my hands.

"G-Gar? What are you doing?"

Before I lean down, I utter the words loud enough so most can hear it, "Something I should've done a long time ago."

---

I don't stop him. I don't want to. I know I should, but I don't. It just feels so good to finally be in his arms again, his lips pressed against my own. Gently, he opened his mouth and slipped his tongue into my mouth. I felt him exploring it, like he wanted to memorize every inch.

We've turned in a circle now; he's pressing me against the balcony side as I throw my arms around him and pull him closer.

The silence was stunning. Not even a gasp sounded from anyone. From the corner of my eye, I see my father boiling with rage. I look over to Gar's father; he looks so pale he could pass as an albino. Michael is awe-stricken, looking heartbroken. Vic, in the audience, can't bear to look.

Breaking the silence is Ms. Kaywood, flipping through her script, "…That's not in the script!"

* * *

**Omg total hell _will_ break lose. **

**So who's confused? Next chapter shall explain ALL. Or most, depends on how evil I feel. **

**I apologize again for the shortness and weirdness of this chapter, but I think the fluff should satisfy you for a while. I probably won't update this for a while until I get the rest of this story mapped out. **

**Review, please!**

**Oh, and if you can, I have links to some AMVs I made; I'd love it if you checked them out and let me know what you think!**


	16. Author's Note

**Not a chapter; Author's Note:**

Haha, okay, let me just say, I'm sorry for this not being a chapter. I'm thrilled with the popular demand for more chapters, but it seems Hell has frozen over and I've been too busy with my life to try and write.

No, I'm not ending here at chapter fifteen, I'm just suffering from a huge writer's block. I'm working on Flavor of the Week right now and I hope to get a chapter up later tonight, but Modern Day Romeo and Juliet is officially on hiatus.

Why? I'm just enjoying life and trying to get my school stuff wrapped up and get good grades on my finals. Not to mention I'm not exactly pleased with the previous chapters, and I might rewrite.

I must not be that busy though since I still have time to go online, it's just...hard to explain. I hope you all understand.

Come summer, I'll definitely have more time to write.

Sorry loves, and no hate-mail, please. That'll just make me want to write less.

-

**Egglette/Sarah. 33**


	17. Reflections

**It liiiiiiiivvvveeessss!**

**I can't belive it, it's alive. Oh my god. I really don't know why this story is so popular; the writing is terrible, but okay, whatever makes you happy.**

**I don't know when the next update will be, in pure honesty.**

* * *

If I were Wally (and I'm thanking someone up there I'm not), I would have two things on my mind: sex and the word 'SCORE' in big, bold capital letters.

That doesn't mean that my mind is an empty slate. It's filled with things like what the hell is going to happen after tonight, and things I can do to make this kiss last longer.

We break apart slightly for air, hearing Ms. Kaywood's faint yelling in the background. I smile between kisses, pushing Rachel harder against the wall of the wooden set. It probably looks like I'm trying to grope her—I just know once this kiss ends, the opportunity won't come again for a long time…if ever.

I can't begin to say how long I've wanted this. Since that first night at the party, there was this…this something, a kindling fire waiting to be thrown into a room filled with gasoline. I pull my head back, staring into her eyes. Once again, everyone else has faded from our world. It's me and her, her and me, and that's all. And that's all we need; all that matters. Her eyes, such gorgeous violet things, have never seemed lovelier. They stare back at me, confused at why I stopped. I prepare to slide my head back down into sync with hers, but not before whispering, "I love you."

Several kids working on the crew scramble around below us, searching for the ropes that close the curtain. As soon as the velvet reds come crashing in together, I hear Ms. Kaywood screaming from below the stage, yelling at us to get the hell down.

_It's time to move_, I think. I wink at her for a moment, locking eyes. She nods, gives the smallest hint of a smile, and let's me lead her.

---

Shit.

Most girls in my situation would jump around, scream a bit, and jump around some more instead of curse. Then again, I suppose I'm not like most girls. And do you want to know why I'm such a foul-mouth? Because Garfield Logan loves me, that's why.

Again, most girls, even some boys, would be so giddy right now they'd practically be floating. I'll admit, I can't help but return the feelings, but you have no clue how much I'd like not to.

No one has any idea how much easier life could be if things would just go back to the way they were before.

He takes my hand; instantly a small spark and shiver is sent up my spine.

He loves me. He loves me. Gar Logan loves…me. I never got the chance to say, "I love you too," because as soon as he whispered those three—heart stopping—words, the curtains closed and we took our chance. Or rather, he took the chance. I just let him lead.

I mentally freeze, thinking over that statement. I let a boy, Gar Logan at that, lead me, of all people. Whoever wrote that saying "Love does the strangest things to people" hit something dead-on.

I can't really explain it; it's difficult. I hate him, I love him, I love him, I love him. I want to hate him; I want to be able to tear my gaze away from him. I want to be able to touch him without feeling a sensation, to be able to feel comforted by anyone else. It would be so much easier if I hated him, if he hated me; if things could go back to the way they were. But no one ever said love was easy. I mean, look at Romeo and Juliet. They loved each other, and look where they ended up.

I almost stumble when that thought enters my mind. Instantly I dismiss it. "Where are we going?" I ask as he pulls me into the parking lot.

"Vic's," he replies over the sonic boom of the thunder. Moments later, another crack of lighting lights up the sky.

"What?" I exclaim. "Vic lives over two miles away and neither of us have our cars!" Now I'm angry. I'm angry at that stupid storm, when the news had said sunny forecasts, and I'm angry at Gar for expecting me to walk the two miles to Vic's house in pouring rain.

He laughs, pulling me into a bush. "He's gotta come out sometime, right?"

I admit I love Gar, but that boy is such an idiot. Sometimes I just want to smack him across the back of his head or throw him out a window just to knock some sense into him. "So you want me to wait in the pouring rain, in the middle of a storm, in a god forsaken _bush_, while we wait for Victor, who has the worst sense of time, next to Kori?" I seethe.

Despite the angry glare I'm sending him, he just smiles cheerily. "…Yup!"

"You're an idiot!" I exclaim.

"Well, we could always find a way to pass the time," He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, moving in for a kiss. How could I go from being so ecstatic to being so angry in moments? I press my palm into his face, sending him back onto the ground.

I already know the answer: Gar.

---

I'm still grinning as I push myself up from the cold dirt. "C'mon Rae, you know you love me."

"My name is Rachel," She spits. I have a comment brewing in my mind involving PMS and female hormones, but I think I'll follow the advice of the usually ignored Common Sense and keep it to myself. I settle with the very mature Garfield Logan pout.

This is not an ordinary pout, where your lower lip sticks out over your top. This is a mastered pout, one that no one, not even the person with the stick highest up their ass, can resist. My eyes get wide, my lips part slightly, and my head seems to grow larger than my body. I feel like one of those plush toys with the huge, sad eyes that haunted you forever when you walked past them on a shelf.

I turn to Rachel, tilting my head to the left. She blinks, raises an eyebrow, and folds her arms. She then turns her body away from me, still fuming.

The pout is instantly gone, replaced with a dropped jaw. That's not supposed to happen. No one should be able resist 'the face'! No, that's just not right. I begin to breathe heavily in shock. Before I have time to speak, I hear the entrance doors open. Crouching low, I stick my head over the bush.

Slowly, my lips curl. I ready my stance and shake out my hands, preparing to grab. Rachel hears me and turns her head, a scowl still gracing her pretty face. After studying the way I'm standing, her expression melts into one of confusion and amusement. Suddenly my arms stretch out and snatch something. My arms jerk back, taking the person I grabbed with me.

Immediately I push Vic against the wall (something I can do only when he's caught off guard), throwing my hand over his mouth to muffle his surprised cries. Using my other hand, I draw my index finger to my lips. We both nod, and I pull my hand away. As soon as it's left his mouth, he begins to shout, "Man, what the hell was that! D—mmph!" A scalding glare sent his way, I throw my hand back over his mouth. He nods again and reluctantly I remove my hand. This time, he just glares and rubs his sore arm. "What?" he hisses.

"We need to crash at your place." There, firm. Not a question, but a statement, staying to the point.

He opens his mouth, an angry frown placed on his face. Before he can say anything else, Rachel cuts him off. "Before you say anything, you know for a fact that you'll be the one to drive us home if you don't, and that we'll make you stay because you were dragged into this. Now, if we were to go to your house, we could catch a cab home when the storm is over."

I can't stop grinning at her; God, I love her so much. She's not even smiling; arms folded over her chest and lips in a firm line. Her eyebrows raise as if to say 'Well?'.

Grumbling, Vic stands. Flattening his back against the building, he signals for us to follow.

---

I swear to you that all men are idiots.

Here we are, an extremely serious matter in our hands, and the two of them are on the ground, rolling around as if they're auditioning for some James Bond movie.

Gar notices that I'm only trudging behind, constantly rolling my eyes at their immaturity. He shoots me a look, and I shoot an equally angry one back, telling him _there was no way in hell I was getting on the ground in the pouring rain._

He scrunches his face up—I think I see a little bit of pink sticking out his mouth. My eyes roll again, but the smile is a lot harder to suppress.

…Idiot.

---

The ride back was quieter than I'd had hoped; I hate quiet. It bothers me. There are so many things that can happen in quiet, so many things can't be masked, and so many things can, not the in the literal sense, be said.

I mean sure, I wasn't expecting anything from Rachel, but Vic at least a few mutters or grumbles. I tried bringing up conversation, shot down both times by glares.

The lights were off at Vic's house- I knew for a fact that his parents were out of town. They were one of the few parents alive that trusted their teenaged son—all-star football jock, nonetheless—at home, alone. For a week.

I laughed too.

Rachel looks uncomfortable at Vic's house, rubbing her arm and trailing her eyes up and down the very-high tech-looking house. Given scientists for parents, Vic always had the most up-to-date home. I loved it, because his gaming equipment was (And I quote myself) "The shit". Vic disagreed, saying his how was creepy at night. Like while they slept, they could be taken over by electronics, or killer robots intent on ending the human race.

Suddenly I remember what I had done the night before, when I slept over at Vic's. Grabbing Rachel's hand, Vic's presence completely disappearing, I rushed to his room, and threw her onto his bed.

Oh, get your mind out of the gutter.

I myself ran to his computer, grabbing a CD out of the hard drive. Then I joined her, bouncing slightly as I hit the mattress, and handed it to her.

---

"For you," a goofy (but cute, very cute) smile on his face. I take it hesitantly, flinching slightly when I see a somber-looking girl staring back at me in it's rainbow reflection. "I made it last night. It's a list of all our songs."

"Gar…" I say, sucking in my breath and closing my eyes.

"Well, not all of them our 'our songs'," He continues on cheerfully, "but a few of them are. Like the one that played at our first dance, and then at the skating rink… Don't ask how I remember that and not that we have some huge exam in History." He laughed and I smiled softly, unable to resist.

I calmed myself, preparing to say what would probably rip both our hearts in two.

Suddenly he looked bashful, barely able to look at me. "So…about what I said earlier tonight."

I close my eyes again, this time shutting harder. But it's too late, for I can still hear Gar's voice in my head. _I love you,_ _I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you._

He notices me wincing, putting a hand on my shoulder. I feel tears well in my eyes, to my discomfort. "Gar, we just…we shouldn't…it's not supposed to be like this," I sob out quickly.

His hand pulls away, face filling with confusion. My heart pounds louder than I had ever heard it before, and above it is a pain, quickly rising. "We just can't do this," I manage, getting up and running out of the room.

I'm so weak, I think to myself, but there's nothing to stop me now. I've said it, he acknowledged it, and I ran from it.

"Rachel, wait!" I hear him call. The only thing that's stopping my immediate leave of Victor's (somewhat creepy) house is Victor himself. I literally run into him, carrying a sandwich and a very confused look. I sob, trying to push past him, but he refuses to move.

"Wait, what's going on?" Victor stares down at me, slowly finishing his bite. Then he looks up, past me. I wince, knowing what that must mean. I beat on his chest, demanding he move, but I hear his legs snap onto the floor firmly. Damn him and his damned size.

"Don't do this Rachel! Why won't you let me in!" Gar cries, pure pain and confusion in his voice. For the moment, I can't bare to look at anything. Not even the inanimate, because I think they would be staring at me in disappointment. The pain in my chest rises. I whip around, a faint bitterness on my face and clearly in my voice.

"Because, Gar! How do you expect our relationship to work with both our parents hating each other? What do you think is going to come out of it? More and more anger and fighting, that's what! You think that if we get together all our family feuds will magically disappear? Remember Romeo and Juliet? Their parents hated each other, and the only reason that they got over it was because their kids _died_, Gar."

I can't even tell if I'm crying anymore.

I don't know how long we stood there for, I don't think I'll ever know, staring into each other's eyes. Mine are trying to hide all emotion, but my forever opposite, his are filled with almost every kind of emotion you can think of. "But, I love you…" He tells me softly, in a weak voice that might come out of an abused teenage girl.

My chest hurts so much right now, its indescribable. All I can hear is my cold, heavy breaths as I say, coldly, "I don't love you."_ Lying, lying, witch! _Someone is screaming in my head, pounding on whatever they can get their hands on. It's making my head hurt, but there's nothing I can do about it by stand there and let myself hurt.

I manage to get by Victor now; he's too surprised by my statement that I can bump into him and cause him to stumble back. Biting my lip to keep from saying anything else, I head straight for the door, ignoring the thunder and the following flash of lightening.

"Well fine!" Gar screams, finally. I feel a little better; screaming is better than silence. "Then take your stupid CD with you!" And he hurls it, straight at me. It hits me in the back of the head, falling to the floor with a soft bang. I stop walking.

That little voice in my head takes over for a minute as I bend down to grab it. I hold it in my hands, once again seeing the reflection of a girl in it. This one is not somber like before, but looking as though someone stabbed her in the heart. She is unhappy with me, using no power to hide it. I can't take it anymore; I quickly regain control over that stupid something.

With one more tear rolling unnoticed down my cheek, I walk out of Victor's house, just as I intended to walk out of Gar's life.

* * *

**-so bad-**

**Um yeah. Review? Other questions in the story shall be answered in later chapters.**


	18. Girl Chat

**Short chapter, I warn you.**

**It answers some questions though. I really wish you guys wouldn't flame me for having them fight, I dont appreciate it. it IS romeo and juliet, there IS going to be conflict. it makes me sad, and not want to write. :( **

* * *

As I stepped out of Victor's door, I swear I could feel someone etching 'IDIOT' across my forehead. _Keep walking_, I told myself. 

_**Wee woo wee woo! Sirens blaring! C'mon Rae, you idiot, maybe you can still fix things! Go back in there and**—_

And what? Run into his oh so forgiving- oh wait, he threw a CD at me, I wonder how forgiving he'll be.

_**Gar is a very loving person who happens to love us! If you apologized correctly and probably kissed him, he'd forgive us**. _

You don't know that, you're a voice. Oh shit, I'm talking to myself. Padded walls, here I come.

_**I hear white is very in fashion this season, it's alright.**_

Shut up shut up shut up!

_**Now, now Rachel, denial will get you absolutely no where in life. You should accept it. You and Gar really belong together, honestly. You're being a real bitch about this, I'm warning you. Push him any farther away and you're going to lose him forever.**_

I could use a cup of tea right now.

_**Starbucks, second corner.**_

Thanks.

_**No problem.**_

Shut up now.

_**You're being moronic.**_

This time, I just decided to ignore the stupid little voice. I figured it was best, seeing as how I was having a conversation with my best and I'm pretty sure normal people don't talk to themselves. Then again, I'm also pretty sure normal people don't have such complicated relationships with their on-and-off again boyfriends.

I cursed myself for not taking my coat off of Victor's bed when I could've and shivered, picking up my pace by a few seconds. I breathed a bit harder and saw my breath practically freeze in the air in front of me. Gar would've laughed at that.

Gar…

No. No Gar. We're not thinking about Gar anymore. Suddenly, I felt something cold run down my cheek. And then another, followed by another. I brought my cold, almost numb hand up to my face and dabbed it against my cheek. When it pulled away, there was water on it. I couldn't be… I wasn't crying.

I sniffled.

Oh god, I _was_ crying. Not over Gar though, certainly. That would just be illogical. I had clearly shown him and myself that I didn't have feelings for him, with Victor as a witness…

_**Oh girl, who are you kidding?**_

Shut up!

I entered the Starbucks still crying, sniffling, and half numb from the cold. I was greeted by a blast of warm air and thanked whoever was in charge of that kind of thing up there, sliding into a table. I ran my cold hands through my hair a few times, sighing, then patted my pocket to make sure the fateful CD was still there as well. After I placed my order I returned to my table, surprised to see someone, a _familiar_ someone at that, sitting in the chair opposite of the one I had been sitting in.

"Tara?"

A meek smile was my first reply. "Hey, Rachel."

"What…what are you doing here?" What are you doing at my table? In my Starbucks? In my proximity, you bitch.

"I need to explain myself. I…I don't have the guts to face Gar," she said softly, stirring a cup of hot chocolate. I took in her appearance. She was pretty and thin as always, but there was something hollow about her. Her long, normally shiny blonde hair looked dull and there were bags under her big blue eyes, like she hadn't slept in weeks. The scarf around her neck looked ready to suffocate her, her coat looked two sizes too big, and her boots were clunky and huge instead of small and dainty like she usually wore.

This was not the Tara Markov I saw at school. "Have you slept recently?" I asked before I could stop. At least my voice didn't carry any concern, or I really might start to fear for my well being. Me, care for Tara? Psh.

She paused, clearly caught off guard, and shook her head. "I've been feeling so guilty. About ratting Gar out to your dad and Mr. Wilson." Mr. Wilson was my Dad's business partner, a man who was speculated to be Tara's uncle. My jaw dropped, but in my gut I think I had partially known it. "I know it was the bitchiest, meanest, cruelest thing to do, but I just…Mr. Wilson promised me things. He's such a smooth talker Rachel, I believed him, I…"

I rested both my elbows on the table, leaning forward and sighing. "Tara, stop."

"Can I ask about why you pretended to be dead?"

She nodded. "It wasn't my idea. It was your D…It was Mr. Wilson's, actually. He suggested that if Gar was so torn over my death, he wouldn't want to be around Rachel—you anymore." My father had thought that a girl faking her own death would be a good idea? The very thought of it just made my blood boil.

"But there was something I told Gar that I need tell you now. You're agitated, so I'm gonna take it that you and Gar were fighting, so I know this won't help your bad mood and I hope you'll believe me." I opened my mouth to protest, but she just shot me a 'Don't-try-to-argue-your-way-out-of-this' look. "I…I have depression, Rachel. The whole 'Tara wants to die' thing, it wasn't just completely out of the blue."

Now I was really surprised. Miss Prom Queen, Perfect Tara, having depression? That, ladies and gentlemen, will still your babies before they're born. Who needs abortion? We've got Tara Markov! Oh, and apparently, her depression! "Well, I never really told Gar this part. He'd just flip on me and go extra protective, but I can trust that you don't care that much, right?" She let out a melancholy laugh, and I instantly felt a bit bad.

I sipped my tea, nodding her on. "So when Mr. Wilson found out, he twisted the idea of suicide idealization into actual suicide, and used some of your dad's contacts with the Police to make it seem like I killed myself for a few days. The plan was that I was that I was going to be pulled out of school and moved away and just have my life started over (and believe me, I had no say in the matter) when you saw me at school getting my things."

I felt the urge to laugh. An entire plan spoiled, because of a silly, stupid mistake like that.

"Yeah, but then your parents knew about Gar, and threatened you, didn't they? I'm so, so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. I was just jealous, you know, because he was my boyfriend for so long and I really did love him, I still do, just not like that, and…"

I nodded. "I can't be with Gar, or my Father is going to do something to his family or worse, him. I just wish… I wish I could tell him that, to make him understand that we really can't be together or something bad will happen to him. I…l…love him…so much…"

Tara reached out, lacing her fingers together with mine. "I'm sorry if I was ever a bitch to you Rachel."

I couldn't smile because I was too focused on making sure I didn't cry into my tea.

---

"Good evening honey. Oh! Where on earth is your coat, you'll catch a cold for god's sakes!"

"Whatever," I growled, pushing past my mother to hang my scarf on the coat rack. I stood there for a few minutes, not moving, closing my eyes as hard as I could and clenching my jaw muscle. _Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out…_

"Are…are you alright?"

"Do I look alright?" I snapped, twisting away from her outstretched hand and storming away into my room. I flopped into my bed, ripped off my shirt, and lay on my bed. I shut my eyes, trying to block out Rachel's seething voice.

"_Because, Gar! How do you expect our relationship to work with both our parents hating each other? What do you think is going to come out of it? More and more anger and fighting, that's what! You think that if we get together all our family feuds will magically disappear? Remember Romeo and Juliet? Their parents hated each other, and the only reason that they got over it was because their kids died, Gar."_

The clock ticked on loudly. And louder, and louder, and eventually it was too loud for me to be able to handle. With a fit of rage I raced towards the plain black and white clock that had never bothered me before in its ten years of work, tore it off the wall, and smashed it onto the ground. Now all I wanted to do was throw back my head and howl, or maybe pant angrily.

Okay, joking there people. Not really serious. Well, sort of.

A knock at the door interrupted my rabid-dog-meets-boy fest and I instantly tried to hide the broken, no longer ticking clock underneath the covers of my bed. "Uh, one second!" I called frantically, struggling to pick up all the pieces of the clock. "Okay, come on in," I breathed finally, having disposed of everything out the window.

"Did I hear something smash?" My mother asked curiously, glancing around my room.

"No!" I answered quickly, flashing a large smile. God that hurts my cheeks… Mom noticed I answered a bit too quickly, because she raised an eyebrow and pointed at the bed after uncrossing her arms.

"Bed. Sit. Now."

I did as I was instructed, awkwardly sitting shirtless next to my mother. "Can I put on a shirt, Mom?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest to- yes, in case you're wondering, cover it up. So I'm a bit self conscious, sue me. She nodded her yes, and I pulled on a long sleeve, blue shirt. I joined her on the bed again.

"This is about the girl you kissed during the play, isn't it? The Rachel girl? Well, let me tell you, I want you to avoid your father for the next few days! He is _seething_."

"No problem," I muttered under my breath, falling onto my back and sighing deeply.

"What's the matter? This isn't just about the kiss, is it? Come on, you can tell your mother. I'm not into the whole 'rivalry' thing like your father is. You can trust me." I studied my mom for a minute, taking in her kind smell and aroma that smelled of kitchen, where she had been working all morning. She had been taking a well deserved break from her work and baking up a storm since yesterday, and the house smelled of cinnamon and cookies and all sorts of wonders you can think of.

"Okay…here's the thing. I mean, maybe it's her period!" Uh oh, I was getting into a rant now. "I don't get it! I don't get, girls! What is up with them! I do a really romantic gesture and I think I'm doing something right but she flat out rejects me! I don't, I just don't, get it! I mean, is there something wrong with me? Did I do something wrong? Is it my breath? I showered today! Was it the mood? Was there even a mood? Oh god, there wasn't a mood!"

Instead of letting her eyes widen at the rate my voice was yapping off, my mother just took my head in my head in her hands and whispered into my ear, "Sometimes honey, love is just a bit more complicated than you think."

* * *

**As i said, short. One POV change, yeah. **

**hope you liked it and it answered some of your questions, like why rachel keeps rejecting gar. review?**


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